
BookJiiS 



/ 







A HISTORY OF 



I 



THE SACRED SCRIPTURES 

IN EYERY LANGUAGE AND DIALECT 






INTO WHICH TRANSLATIONS HAYE BEEN MADE 



ILLT/STBATED BY 



SPECIMEN PORTIONS IN NATIYE CHARACTERS; 

COLOURED ETHNOGRAPHICAL MAPS, 
TABLES, INDEXES, ETC. 

NEW EDITION, ENLARGED AND ENRICHED. 



3t» 




nOAAAI MEN QNHTOI2 r A O T T A I, MIA A' A A N A T O 1 2 I N. 



LONDON : 

SAMUEL BAGSTER AND SONS: 

AT THE "WAREHOUSE FOR BIBLES, NEW TESTAMENTS, CHURCH SERVICES, PRAYER BOOKS, LEXICONS, GRAMMARS, 
CONCORDANCES, AND PSALTERS, IN ANCIENT AND MODERN LANGUAGES ; 

15, PATERNOSTER ROW. 



.1 x 



9* 



V 






6° 



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* Wit tf Ctrai Soft 



MULT£ TERRICOLIS LINCU/E, 
CCELESTIBUS UNA. 



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I 



A LIST 

OF 

THE LANGUAGES 

INTO WHICH 

THE SCRIPTURES, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED. 



NOTE. THE NAMES OF LANGUAGES IN WHICH VERSIONS OF SCEIPTURE HATE BEEN CONTEMPLATED OB PROJECTED, BUT NEYEK 

COMPLETED OE CIECULATED, ABE FEINTED IN ITALICS. 






MONOSYLLABIC. 

CLASS I. 
Chinese, 1. 
Burmese, 7. 

Arakanese or Rukheng, 10. 
Peguese, Talain, or Mon, 1 1 . 
Siamese, 12. 
Laos or Law, 14. 
Cambojan, 15. 
Anamite, 15. 
Karen, 15. 
Munipoora, 16. 
Khassee, 17. 
Tibetan, 20. 
Lepcha, 21. 

SHEMITIC. 

CLASS II. 

Hebrew, Old Test., 22. 
Hebrew, New Test., 29. 
Samaritan, 35. 
Chaldee, 39. 
Syriac, 41. 
Syro-Chaldaic, 45. 
Modern Syriac, 45. 
Arabic, 48. 
Judeo- Arabic, 52. 
Maltese, 53. 

Mogrebinor W.Arabic, 55. 
Carshun, 56. 
Ethiopic, 57. 
Tigre, 60. 
Amharic, 61. 



INDO-EUROPEAN. 

CLASS III. 

Medo-Persian Family. 

Persian, 64. 
Judeo-Persian, 71. 
Pushtoo or Anghan, 72. 
Beloochee or Bulochee, 74. 
Ancient Armenian, 75. 
Modern Armenian, 75. 
Ararat- Armenian, 75. 
Kurdish, 82. 

Armeno, 82. 

Hakari, 84. 
Ossitinian, 84. 



Sanscrit Family. 

Sanscrit, 86. 

Pali, 91. 

Hindustani or Urdu, 94. 

Hinduwee, 100. 

Bruj or Brij-bhasa, 103. 

Canoj or Canyacubja, 104. 

Kousulu or Koshala, 104. 

Bhojepoora, 104. 

Hurriana, 105. 

Bundelcundee, 105. 

Bughelcundee, 105. 

Harrotee, 106. 

Oojein or Oujjuyunee, 107. 

Oodeypoora, 107. 



Marwar, 107. 
Juyapoora, 108. 
Shehawutty, 108. 
Bikaneera, 108. 
Buttaneer, 108. 
Bengalee, 109. 
Magadha, 114. 
Tirhitiya or Mithili, 114. 
Assamese, 115. 
Uriya or Orissa, 116. 
Cutchee or Catchee, 117. 
Sindhee, 117. 
Moultan, Wuch, or 

Ooch, 118. 
Punjabee or Sikh, 118. 
Dogura or Jumboo, 120. 
Cashmerian, 120. 
Nepalese or Khaspoora, 121. 
Palpa, 122. 
Kumaon, 123. 
Gurwhal or Schreen- 

agur, 123. 
Gujerattee, 123. 
Mahratta, 126. 
Kunlcuna, 129. 
Rommany or Gipsy, 130. 
Tamul or Tamil, 133. 
Telinga or Teloogoo, 138. 
Karnata or Canarese, 141. 
Tulu, 144. 
Malayalim, 145. 
Cingalese, 147. 
Maldivian, 150. 



Celtic Family. 
Welsh, 151. 
Gaelic, 158. 
Irish, 160. 
Manks, 166. 
Cornish, 169. 
Breton or Armorican, 170. 

Teutonic Family. 

Gothic, 174. 
Alemannic or Old High 
German, 178. 

,, Dialects, 179. 
German, 181. 

,, Dialects, 185. 
Jewish-German, 186. 
Judeo-Polish, 188. 
Old Saxon, 189. 
Anglo-Saxon, 191. 
English, 196. 
Flemish, 205. 
Dutch, 208. 

SurinamNegroEnglish,212. 
Creolese, 211. 
Norse or Icelandic, 214. 
Danish, 217. 
Swedish, 222. 
Faroese, 226. 

Greco-Latin Family. 

Ancient Greek, 227. 
Modern Greek, 241. 
Latin, 245. 



A LIST OF THE LANGUAGES, etc. 



French, 254. 

Spanish, 261. 

Portuguese, 271. 

Indo-Portuguese, 275. 

Italian, 277. 

Daco-Romana or Wal- 
lachian, 279. 

Provencal or Romaunt, 281 . 

Vaudois, 284. 

Piedmontese, 286. 

Romanese or Romonsch, or 
Upper and Lower 
Enghadine, 287. 

Catalan, 265. 

Judeo-Spanish, 267. 

Curacoa, 270. 

Dialect of Toulouse, 283. 

Thraco-Illyrian 
Family. 

Albanian, 289. 

Sclavonic Family. 

Sclavonic, 291. 
Russ, 295. 
Polish, 298. 
Bohemian, 300. 
Servian, 302. 
Croatian or Dalmatian- 
Servian, 304. 
Carniolan, 305. 
Bosnian, 306. 
Slovakian, 306. 
Bulgarian, 307. 
Wendish, Upper, 308. 
Wendish, Lower, 308. 
Wendish, Hungarian, 310. 
Lettish or Livonian, 310. 
Lithuanian, 312. 
Samogitian, 313. 

UCRO TARTARIAN. 

CLASS IV. 
Euskarian Family. 

French Basque, 314. 
Spanish Basque or 
Escuara, 318. 



Finnish Family. 

Finnish Proper, 319. 
Lapponese, 322. 
Quanian or Norwegian 

Laplandish, 324. 
Hungarian, 325. 
Karelian, 328. 
Olonetzian, 328. 
Dorpat Esthonian, 329. 
Reval Esthonian, 330. 
Tscheremissian, 331. 
Mordvinian or Mor- 

duin, 331. 
Zirian or Sirenian, 332. 
Wogulian, 332. 
Ostiacan or Ostjakian, 332. 
Wotagian or Wotjakian,333. 

Tungusian Family. 

Mantchou, 334. 
Tungusian Proper, 336. 

Mongolian Family. 

Mongolian Proper, 337. 
Calmuc, 338. 
Buriat, 339. 

Turkish Family. 

Turkish, 341. 

Karass or Turkish 
Tartar, 347. 

Orenburg- Tartar, 349. 

Karaite-Tartar, 350. 

Tschuwaschian, 351. 

Trans-Caucasian Tar- 
tar, 352. 

Caucasian Family. 
Georgian, 353. 

Samoiede Family. 
Samoiede, 355. 

Dialects of the Is- 
lands of Eastern Asia, 
and of Corea. 

Japanese, 356. 
Loochooan, 357. 



Aleutian, 358. 
Corean, 359. 

POLYNESIAN OR 
MALAYAN. 

CLASS V. 
Malayan, 360. 
Low Malay, 367. 
Formosan, 368. 
Javanese, 369. 
Dajak, 371. 
Bima, 372. 
Batta, 373. 
Bugis, 374. 
Macassar, 374. 
Hawaiian, 375. 
Tahitian, 376. 
Rarotongan, 378. 
Marquesan, 380. 
Tongan, 381. 

New Zealand or Maori, 383. 
Malagasse, 386. 
Samoan, 388. 
Feejeean, 390. 
Aneiteum, 392. 
Lifu, and Nengone, 394. 
Australian, 395. 

AFRICAN. 

CLASS VI. 

Coptic, 397. 
Sahidic, 401. 
Bashmuric, 402. 
Berber, 403. 
Ghadamsi, 405. 
Mandingo, 406. 
Jalloqf, 407. 
Susoo, 408. 
Bullom, 409. 
Sherbro-Bullom, 410. 
Yarriba or Yoruba, 411. 
Haussa, 412. 
Timmanee, 413. 
Bassa, 414. 
Grebo, 414. 
Accra, 415. 
Fantee, 416. 
Ashantee or Odjii, 417. 
Dualla, 418. 



Isubu, 419. 
Fernandian, 420. 
Mpongwe, 421. 
Sechuana, 423. 
Sisuta, 425. 
Caffre, 426. 
Zulu, 429. 
Namaqua, 430. 
Galla, 432. 
Kisuaheli, 434. 
Kikamba, 435. 
Kinika, 435. 

AMERICAN. 

CLASS VII. 

Esquimaux, 438. 
Greenlandish, 441. 
Virginian, 444. 
Massachusett Indian, 444. 
Mohegan, 444. 
Delaware, 447. 
Cree, 448. 
Chippeway, 450. 
Ojibway, 453. 
Ottawa, 453. 
Pottawattomie, 454. 
Micmac, 454. 
Abenaqui, 455. 
Shawanoe, 455. 
Mohawk, 456. 
Seneca, 458. 
Cherokee, 459. 
Chocktaw, 461. 
Dacota or Sioux, 463. 
Iowa, 464. 
Pawnee, 464. 
Mexican, 465. 
Otomi, 467. 
Terasco, 467. 
Misteco, 467. 
Zapoteca, 467. 
Mayan, 468. 
Mosquito, 469. 
Peruvian or Quichua, 470. 
Aimara, 471. 
Guarani, 472. 
Brazilian, 472. 
KariforCarib, 473. 
Arawack, 474. 



PBEFATOKY REMAEKS 

TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



It is remarkable that, among all the branches of history, religious, political, social, 
literary, and scientific, which have from time to time obtained such numerous and such 
able exponents, the history of the Oracles of God, until the publication of the first 
edition of this Work, remained unwritten, at least in the form of an unbroken and 
complete narrative. The materials for such a work had, it is true, been accumulating 
from century to century ; and fragmentary portions of this history enter into the 
composition of many profound and learned treatises ; while facts and incidents connected 
with the subject or illustrative of it have been supplied even to profusion by writers of 
almost every age, creed, and nation. But that mass of information remained as yet 
unavailable to the generality of readers. The " Bible of Evert Land," then, for the 
first time brought together from all sources, ancient and modern, the many details 
bearing on that history which above all others involves the temporal and eternal 
interests of mankind, and thus produced a clear and condensed account of the means 
by which the Scriptures were transmitted from generation to generation. It investigated 
the circumstances under which they have been translated into the principal languages 
of every land ; — and the agencies by which copies of the inspired writings in these 
languages have been multiplied and dispersed among the nations, tribes, and kindreds 
of the earth. 

In the preparation of this new and enlarged edition these investigations have been 
pursued, and the greatest care has been taken to furnish the latest accessible information 
on every point. 

The Arrangement of the whole work is in strict conformity with the latest dis- 
coveries in ethnology. For, although the Editors have not departed from the one 
great object of displaying in these pages, the history of the Holy Scriptures, they have 
carefully reviewed the origin and condition of the nations to which special versions have 
been given, as well as the distinguishing characteristics of the languages into which 
the Divine Oracles have been transferred. 

The elements of these languages, the stock or stocks from which they sprang, and 
their affiliation with other languages, have been examined more or less in detail ; and 
the singular precision with which all languages range themselves, according to the 



PREFATORY REMARKS. 

order of their mutual affinities, into classes, families, and subdivisions, is exhibited 
by means of Tables of Classification, perhaps the first of the kind compiled in our 
language. 

The "Bible of Every Land" has thus in some degree assumed the character of 
an ethnological manual, and as such it may possibly prove a stepping-stone to those 
who desire to pass from the study of two or three isolated languages to the enlarged 
consideration of Language in general, and of the laws upon which all languages are 
constructed. Such investigations, if laboriously, patiently, and honestly conducted, can 
lead to but one result. For the affinities by which families and even classes of lan- 
guages are linked together are so close and intimate, that the more deeply they are 
examined, the more profound becomes our conviction of the truth of the theory respect- 
ing the original unity of language. 

This volume is illustrated by Specimen Portions of all the extant and attainable 
versions of the Scriptures, printed in their own proper characters. 

The Maps to the several sections of the work exhibit the geographical location and 
extent of each language, and likewise show how far the divine light of the Holy Scrip- 
tures in the vernacular languages of the natives, shines over the world. 

A very interesting feature of the present Work will be found in the conclusions 
which have been draAvn from the mass of missionary and epistolary evidence respecting 
the effects which may have followed the perusal of existing versions of the Scriptures. 
All reasonings on this subject, however, even with the most ample opportunities of 
forming a correct judgment, can at best be but approximations towards the truth. 
Known only to God is the number of His spiritual worshippers. The Word of God 
is still quick and powerful, in every tongue and among every nation, and it cannot 
return unto Him void: therefore let us "in the morning sow our seed, and in the 
evening withhold not our hand." The question ' which shall prosper, this or that,'' — or 
' whether they shall both be alike good,' is one of the secret things which belong unto 
the Lord most High. 

The Publishers would fain express their deep obligation to the numerous friends 
who have taken part in the preparation of this laborious work, were such an enumera- 
tion suitable ; but they cannot refrain from recording the particular value of the aid 
afforded by His Highness Prince Louis-Lucien Bonaparte, by the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, the American Bible Society, and the Missionary Societies of this country 
and of America; also by the Rev. S. C. Malan, M. A., and by William Hughes, Esq., 
F.R.G.S. 

London, 15, Paternoster Row, 1860. 



CONTENTS. 



PREFATORY REMARKS. 

A Classified List of the Languages into which the Scriptures have been Translated. 

An Alphabetical List of Typographical Specimens. 

The Ethnographical Maps, illustrating the Monosyllabic Languages — The Shemitic Languages — The 

Medo-Persian Family — The Sanscrit Family — The Indo-European Languages of Europe — 

The Finno-Tartarian — The Polynesian — African — North and South American 

Languages — with Letter-Press Description. 

The Series of Native Alphabets with their Powers. 

Alphabetical Index to the Memoirs of the Versions. 



page 
CLASS I.— THE MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES 1 

Engraved Specimen of Burmese and Khassee, p. 7; Tibetan, 20; 
Karen and Lepcha, 115; Siamese, 337. 

CLASS n.— THE SHEMITIC LANGUAGES 22 

Engraved Specimen of Syro-Chaldaic, p. 20. 
Map exhibiting the Ancient Diffusion of the Hebrew Language, p. 31. 

CLASS HI.— INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES.— Medo-Persian Family .... 64 

Engraved Specimen of Hakari-Kurdish, p. 91. 

Sanscrit Family ............ 86 

Engraved -Specimen of Pali, Uriya or Orissa, and Telinga, p. 91 ; Assamese, 115; Cutchee, 

Cashmerian, Gujerattee, Tamul, 133 ; Bengalee, Canarese, Cingalese, 141 ; 

Mooltan and Malayalim, 337. 



Celtic Family 
Teutonic Family . 
Greco-Latin Family 

Thkaco-Illyrian Family 
Sclavonic Family 



Engraved Specimen of Wallachian, p 



Engraved Specimen of Sclavonic and Russ, Servian 



141. 



Bulgarian, p. 291. 



151 

174 
227 



289 
291 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

CLASS IV.— DETACHED FAMILIES.— Ugro-Tartarian Languages. 

Euskarian Family ........... 314 

Finnish Family . . . . . . . . . . . 319 

Engraved Specimen of Karelian and Zirian, p. 338 ; Tscheremissian and Mordvinian, 356- 

Tungusian Family ........... 334 

Engraved Specimen of Mantchou, p. 334. 

Mongolian Family ............ 337 

Engraved Specimen of Mongolian, p. 337; Calmuc and Buriat, 338. 

Turkish Family ............ 341 

Engraved Specimen of Tschuwaschian, p. 334. 

Caucasian Family ............ 353 

Engraved Specimen of Georgian, Civil and Ecclesiastical, p. 334. 

Samoiede Family ........... 355 

Eastern Asian and Corean Families ......... 356 

Engraved Specimen of Japanese and Loochooan, p. 356. 

CLASS V.— POLYNESIAN LANGUAGES 360 

Engraved Specimen of Javanese, p. 115. 

CLASS VI.— AFRICAN LANGUAGES . 397 

CLASS VII. -AMERICAN LANGUAGES 438 



A CLASSIFIED TABLE OF THE LANGUAGES OF THE ENTIRE EARTH, illustrating 

THE NECESSITY FOR CONTINUED EXERTION IN THE SPREAD OF THE SCRIPTURES . . . 477 



ALPHABETICAL LIST 

OF 

SPECIMENS IN NATIVE CHARACTERS. 





PAGE 




PAGE 




PAGE 


Accra . 


415 


Chippeway 


450 


_T AROESE 


226 


Adiyah 


346 


Chocktaw . 


461 


Feejeean . 


. 390 


Affghan 


. 72 


Cingalese (plate \ 


•.) 147 


Fernandian . 


420 


Aimara 


471 


Coptic 


397 


Finnish . 


. 319 


Albanian 


289 


Cornish 


169 


Flemish 


205 


Alemannic . 


178 


Cree 


448 


French 


. 254 


Amharic 


61 


Syllabic . 


449 


Le Fevre's Version 256 


Ancient Greek 


227 


Creolese . 


211 


Olivetan's , 


, 256 


Anglo-Saxon . 


191 


Croatian, or Dalmatian 


Geneva ,' 


256 


Northumbrian . 


195 


Servian 


304 


De Sacy's , 


, ' 257 


Aneiteum 


392 


Curacoa . 


270 


Ostervald's , 


257 


Arabic 


48 


Cutchee or Catchee 




Swiss . , 


257 


Arawack 


474 


(plate iv 


.) 117 


Normandian , 


, 259 


Armenian: Ancient 


75 


JJaco-Romana or 




Burgundian , 


, 260 


Ararat 


75 


Wallachian (pi. v 


.)279 


French Basque 


314 


Modern 


75 












Dacota or Sioux 


463 






Assamese (plate x 


) 115 


Dajak . 


371 


(jTAELIC . 




JBashmuric 


402 


Danish 


217» 


. 158 


Basque, French 


314 


Delaware 


447 


Galla . 


432 


,, Spanish 


318 


Dorpat Esthonian 


329 


Georgian : (pi. 


viii.) 353 


Bengalee (plate v 


) 109 


Dualla 


418 


Civil character 


. 353 


Berber . 


403 


Dutch . 


208 


Ecclesiastical , 


, 353 


Bohemian 


300 






German : 




Breton . 


170 


English : 




Luther, 1825 


. 181 


. „ Dialects 


173 


Wiclif, 1380 


196 


Van Ess, 1842 


181 


Bulgarian (plate vi 


.)307 


Tyndale, 1534 . 


196 


Gosner, 1836 


. 182 


Bullom • • 


409 


Coverdale, 1535 


196 


Kistemaker, 1848 182 


Buriat (plate vn 


.)339 


Matthew, 1537 . 


196 


Ghadamsi 


. 405 


Burmese (plate i.) 


7 


Cranmer, 1539 


197 


Gipsy . 


130 






Taverner, 1549 


197 


Gothic 


. 174 


Oaffre 


426 


Geneva, 1557 


197 


Grebo . 


414 


Calmuc (plate vn 


) 338 


Bishops', 1568 . 


197 


Greek, Ancient : 




Canarese (plate v 


.) 141 


Rheims, 1582 


198 


Textus Recept 


.is . 227 


Carib, see Karif. 




Douay, 1847 . 


198 


Mill's, with various 


Carniolan 


305 


Authorised, 1611 


198 


readings 


233 


Carshun . 


56 


Blayney, 1769 . 


198 


Septuagint . 


. 236 


Cashmerian (pi. iv 


.) 120 


Enghadine 


. 287 


Greek, Modern : 




Catalan or Cataloniar 


265 


Esquimaux . 


438 


Maximus Calli 


opoli- 


Chaldee . 


39 


Esthonian, Dorpat 


. 329 


tan's Version, 1638 241 


Chinese 


1 


„ Reval . 


330 


Hilarion's „ 


. 241 


„ Grass writing . 


4 


Ethiopic . 


. 57 


Greenlandish, 17 


)9 441 



PAGE 

Greenlandish, 1822 443 
Gujerattee (plate iv.) 123 

xIakari (plate in.) 84 
Harrotee . . 106 
Hawaiian . . 375 
Hebrew . . 22 
New Test., Green- 
field's Version 29 
Society's „ . 29 
Hindustani . . 94 
In the Devanagari 

character . 95 

In Roman . . 96 

Hinduwee . . 100 

Hungarian . . 325 

„ Wendish 310 

Icelandic . . 214 

Indo-Portuguese . 275 

Irish : 

In Irish character 160 
In Roman .160 

Munster . . 161 

Isubu . . .419 

Italian : 

Malermi's Version 277 
Diodati's „ 277 

Martini's „ 277 

Japanese (plate ix.) 356 
Javanese (plate x.) 369 
Jewish-German . 186 
Judeo-Persian . 71 

Judeo-Polish . .188 
Judeo- Spanish . 267 

Karaite-Tartar 350 
Karass, or Turkish 
Tartar : — 






I 



Ms 



\ 



ALPHABETICAL LIST OF TYPOGRAPHICAL SPECIMENS. 



PAGE 

Seaman's Version, 

1666 . . 347 

Brun ton's Version, 

1813 . . 347 

Karelian {plate vn.) 328 

Karen, Sgau {plate x.) 16 

„ Sho or Pwo 

(plate x.) 16 
Karif or Carib . 473 
Karnata, or Canarese 

(plate v.) 141 
Katchi (plate iv.) 117 
Khaspoora . .121 
Khassee (plate i.) 17 

„ In Roman 17 

Kunkuna . . 129 
Kurdish (plate in.) 82 

IjApponese . . 322 
Latin Versions of the 
Old Testament : 

Ante-Hieronymian 245 

Vulgate . . 245 

Pagninus's . 245 

Munster's . . 246 

Leo Juda's 246 

Castalio's . . 246 
Junius and Tremel- 

lius's . . 247 

Schmidt's . . 247 

Dathe's . .' 247 

Latin Versions of the 

New Testament : 

Ante-Hieronymian 252 

Erasmus's 252 

Beza's . . .252 

Castalio's . . 253 

Schmidt's . 253 

I Sebastian's . . 253 

V Schott's . . 253 

) Goeschen's . 253 

Lepcha (plate x.) 21 

Lettish or Livonian . 310 

Lifu and Nengone 394 

Lithuanian . . 312 

Loochooan (plate ix.) 357 

Mahratta . 126 

Malagasse . . 386 
Malayalim (plate xi.) 145 



Malayan : 

Arabic, Calcutta, 

1817 . . 360 
Roman,Oxford,1677 361 
„ Brower, 1668 362 
„ Serampore, 
1814 . . 364 

Arabic, Singapore, 

1831 . . 365 
Arabic, Robinson's 
1823 . . 366 

Maldivian . . 150 

Maltese, 1829 . 53 

„ 1847 . . 54 
Mandingo . . 406 
Manks . . .166 
Mantchou (plate via.) 334 
Marathi . . 126 
Massachusett . . 445 
Mayan . . 468 

Mexican . . . 465 
Micmac . . 454 
Modern Greek 241 

Mohawk . . 456 
Mongolian (plate xi.) 337 
Mogrebin, or African 

or Moorish Arabic 55 
Mordvinian (plate ix.) 331 
Mosquito . . 469 

Moultan or Wuch (p. xi.) 

118 
Mpongwe . . 421 
Munipoora . . 16 

^Namaqua . . 430 
Nepalese or Khaspoora 121 
New Zealand . 383 
Norse . . . 214 

Ojibway . . 453 

Old Saxon . .189 
Orenburg- Tartar . 349 
Orissa (plate in.) 116 

Otomi . . .467 



Pali 


(plate in.) 91 


Peguese . 


11 


Persian 


64 


Judeo- 


. 71 



PAGE 

Piedmontese . 286 

Polish . . .298 

Portuguese : 

Almeida's Version 271 

Pereira's „ 271 

Boys' „ 271 

Provencal or Romaunt 

Lyons MS. . . 281 

Paris MS. [8086] 281 

Paris MS. [6833] 281 

Dublin MS. . 282 

Grenoble MS. . 282 

Zurich MS. . 282 

Pushtoo ... 72 



Qi 



. 324 



XVAKOTONGAN . 378 

Reval Esthonian . 329 
Romanese, Romonsch, 

or Upper and 

Lower Enghadine 287 
Rommany . .130 
Russian (plate vi.) 295 



QAHIDIC 


401 


Samaritan 


. 35 


Samoan 


388 


Samogitian 


. 313 


Sanscrit 


86 



Dr. Carey's Version 90 
Saxon, Old . . 189 
Sclavonian (plate vi.) 291 
Sechuana . . 423 
Servian (plate vi.) 302 
Siamese (plate xi.) 12 
Sindhee . . 117 
Sioux . . .463 
Sirenian (plate vn.) 332 
Sisuta or Sesuto . 425 
Slovakian . . 306 

Sorabic, see Wendish. 
Spanish : 
Reyna's Version 261 
Scio's „ 261 

Amat's „ 261 

Spanish Basque . 318 
Surinam Negro- 
English . . 212 



PAGE 

Susoo . . . 408 

Swedish . . . 222 
Syriac, Peshito . 41 

„ Philoxenian . 41 
Syro-Chaldaic (pi. ii.) 45 

Tahitian . . 376 
Tamul (plate iv.) 133 

Telinga (plate in.) 138 
Tibetan (plate n.) 20 
Tigre ... 60 
Tongan . . 381 
Toulouse . . . 283 
Trans-Caucasian 

Tartar . . 352 
Tscheremissian 

(plate ix.) 331 
Tschuwaschian 

(plate vin.) 351 
Turkish . . .341 
Turkish-Armenian 346 
Turkish-Tartar, see 

Karass. 
Turco-Greek . 345 

U kdoo or Urdu . 94 
Uriya (plate in.) 116 

Vaudois . . 284 
Virginian . . 444 

A\^aixachian (p. vi.) 279 
Welsh : 

Salisbury's Version, 

1567 . . 151 
Dr. W. Morgan's 

Version, 1588 . 151 
Bishop Parry's Ver- 
sion, 1620 . 151 
Bible Society's . 151 
Wendish or Sorabic, 

Upper and Lower 308 
Wendish, Hungarian 310 
Wuch, see Moultan. 

Yarriba . . 411 

.Z iman (plate vn.) 332 



BEMABKS ON THE MAP 



ILLUSTKATTNG THE 



MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. 



re spoken exclusively in the south-eastern angle of the continent of Asia : their area is 
t to the whole of Europe. The various nations by whom these languages are employed 
au. belong nily, and are distinguished, in a more or less modified degree, by the Mongolia type of 

physical conformation. The religion which has obtained the widest acceptance among this race is Buddhism, but other 
forms of belief are also received. The religion of Confucius, and the Taouism of Lao-tsze, for instance, prevail to a 
considerable extent in China ; and a rude species of idolatry, said in some instances to resemble that practised by the 
Esquimaux, is predominant among the wild untutored tribes of the mountains, who still preserve their independence in 
the very midst of the civilised nations of this race. 

The Monosyllabic languages are referable, geographically and philologically, to three grand divisions, namely, the 
languages of China, the languages of the Indo-Chinese or Transgangetic peninsula, and the languages of Tibet and the 
Himalayas. 




I. LANGUAGES OF CHINA. 

CHINESE is the language of China, an extensive 
country, of which the entire surface forms a kind of 
natural declivity from the high steppe-land of Central 
Asia to the shores of the North Pacific. The moun- 
tain chains which traverse this region are not generally 
remarkable for extent or altitude, the chief physical 
characteristic being the broad water-sheds, with their 
corresponding fertile, alluvial valleys, whereby this 
large portion of the earth's surface is rendered a 
rlv fit abode for an industrial, agricultural 
"'elects (according to Leyden, about 
prevail in the different provinces 
f are merely local varieties of 
Languages are spoken among the 
mountain an it districts by uncivilised tribes, 

who are supposed oy some to have been the original 
possessors of the country. 

II. LANGUAGES OF THE TRANS- 
GANGETIC PENINSULA. 

AN AMITE is predominant in a line of country border- 
ing on the Chinese Sea, and extends inland as far 
as the westernmost of those longitudinal ranges of 
mountains of which, with their corresponding valleys, 
this peninsula is composed. The Anamite language 
is spoken, with little variety of dialect, by the 
Tonquinese and Cochin Chinese, two nations who 
evidently at no very remote period formed one 
people. In moral and physical characteristics they 
closely resemble the Chinese, and they are said by 
some of the neighbouring tribes to have been 
originally a Chinese colony. 



CIAMPA, or TSHAMPA, is still spoken in the very 
south of Cochin China by a people who, before their 
annexation to the empire of Anam, formed a separate 
and independent nation. 

CAMBOJAN is the language of Cambodia, a country 
in the south of the peninsula, lying between two 
parallel ridges of mountains, and divided into two 
nearly equal parts by the river May-kuang or Mekon. 
The Cambojans, who 'are akin to, if not identical 
with, the Kho men, are supposed to derive their 
origin from a warlike mountain race named Kho, the 
Gueos of early Portuguese historians. 

SIAMESE is more widely diffused than any other 
Indo-Chinese language ; its various dialects prevail 
over more than half the peninsula, and are spoken, 
with little interruption, in a northerly direction, 
from Cambodia on the south to the borders of 
Tibet on the north. This wide diffusion may in 
part be accounted for by the early conquest of As- 
sam by Siamese tribes. The dialect of the ancient 
Siamese or T'hay tongue, which is now convention- 
ally designated the Siamese, is spoken in Siam, an 
extensive kingdom south-west of Burmah. 

LAOS, or LAW, is a Siamese dialect pervading the 
very interior of the peninsula ; it is conterminous 
with the Cambojan, Anamite, Siamese, Burmese, 
Chinese and Shyan languages. The Laos people 
boast of an ancient civilisation ; and their country, 
noted for the vestiges it contains of the founders of 
Buddhism, is the famed resort of Buddhistic devotees. 

SHYAN is another Siamese dialect, and is spoken to 
the north of Burmah, between China and Munipoor. 



MAP OF THE MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. 



AHOM, an ancient Siamese dialect, is not marked on 
the Map, because extinct, or only preserved in the 
books of the Assamese priesthood. It is remarkable 
that not a single trace of Hindoo influence, either 
Buddhistic or Brahministic, can be found in Ahom 
literature. 

KHAMTI, though the most northern of Siamese 
dialects, varies but little from the dialect of Bankok, 
the capital of Siam. It is spoken by a small moun- 
tainous tribe in the north-east corner of Assam, on 
the border of Tibet. 

SINGPHO is the language of the most powerful of the 
mountain tribes, and prevails in the north of the 
Burmese empire, almost on the confines of China. 
It is conterminous with the Khamti and Shyan on 
the north and south, and with the Chinese and 
Munipoora languages on the east and west. 

PEGUESE prevails in the Delta of the Irawady, within 
the province of Pegu, formerly a part of the Burmese 
dominion, but transferred to British rule in 1852. 

BURMESE is the language of the dominant people of 
the empire of Burmah. Including its cognate dialect, 
the Arakanese, it extends from the Laos country to 
the Bay of Bengal, and from Munipoor to Pegu: it 
is also predominant throughout the maritime province 
of Tenasserim, in the south-west of the peninsula, 
which is now British territory. 

ARAKANESE, as we have before observed, is an elder 
dialect of Burmese : it prevails through a narrow 
strip of country along the Bay of Bengal, from 
Chittagong to Cape Negrais. 

SALONG, or SILONG, is the name of an assemblage 
of small islands in the Mergui archipelago, between 
the Andaman Isles and the south-west coast of the 
peninsula. These islands are about one thousand in 
number : the predominant language is a peculiar one, 
and little is at present known concerning it ; yet it 
is generally referred to the Monosyllabic class. 

KAREN is spoken in three diversities of dialect, by 
uncivilised tribes irregularly distributed over the 
regions lying between the eleventh and twenty-third 
degrees of north latitude, but chiefly to be found 
among the jungles and mountains on the frontiers of 
Burmah, Siam, and Pegu. Some of these tribes are 
designated red Karens, from the light colour of their 
complexion, a circumstance supposed to result from 
the great elevation of their mountainous abodes. 

KHYEN, or KIAYN, perhaps more generally called 
Kolun, is spoken by some wild tribes dwelling in 
North Arakan, and on various mountain heights west 
of the Irawady. These tribes are of more importance 
in an ethnographical than in a political or historical 
point of view. According to their own tradition, 
they are the aborigines of Ava and Pegu. It was 
the opinion of Bitter, that the Khyen and Karen 



tribes are descended from the mountainous races 
of the chains of Yun-nan, dispersed, probably since 
the Mongolic conquest of China, in a southerly 
direction. 

KOONKIE is a wild unwritten dialect, said to resemble 
the Arakanese. It is spoken by the Kukis, a people 
who have been identified with the Nagas and Khoo- 
meas. They dwell to the north of Arakan, on the 
frontiers of Munipoor and Cachar. 

MUNIPOORA is predominant in Munipoor, a small 
kingdom forming part of the northern boundary of 
Burmah. 

CACHARESE is spoken by a numerous tribe in a 
district of considerable extent, lying east of the 
Bengal district of Sylhet. This language is con- 
terminous with the Munipoora on the east, and the 
Khassee on the west. 

KHASSEE is spoken on a range of hills forming part 
of the southern border of Lower Assam. The people 
to whom it is vernacular are called Cossyahs or 
Khasias. 

V* The interposition of Assamese (which is a Sanscrit language 
nearly allied to Bengalee) in the area otherwise exclusively occupied by 
Monosyllabic languages, has given rise to much conjecture ; but it is now 
generally believed that the natives of Lower Assam originally employed 
a Monosyllabic dialect, but were led by their contiguity to Hindustan, 
and by political and other circumstances, to adopt a language of that 
country. Upper Assam is still peopled by various tribes speaking Mono- 
syllabic languages. 

III. LANGUAGES OF TIBET AND 

THE HIMALAYAS. 

LEPCHA is spoken by a tribe apparently of Tibetan 
origin, dwelling on the south side of the Himalayas, 
on and near the eastern frontier of Bootan. 

ABOR and MISHIMI are the languages of uncivilised 
tribes inhabiting an extensive range of hilly country 
on the borders of Bootan and Tibet, between the 
ninety-fourth and the ninety-seventh degrees of east 
longitude. 

TIBETAN is spoken by the widely-diffused race of 
Bhot in Tibet, Bootan, Ladakh, and Bultistan or 
Little Tibet. This extensive range of country lies 
among the Himalayas, in the south-eastern angle of 
the plateau of Central Asia. The geographical 
position of the Bhotiya, and likewise some of their 
moral and physical characteristics, would appear to 
connect them with the nomadic nations of that vast 
plateau, if their peculiar language, which approxi- 
mates in some respects to that of China, did not 
indicate their relationship to the Chinese : and this 
affinity, on the one side with the Chinese, and on the 
other with the Turkish, Mongolian, and Tungusian 
tribes of Central Asia, has caused this remarkable 
race to be regarded as the connecting link between 
these two great divisions of the human family. 



THE 



SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. 



The Shemitic languages are remarkably few in number, although (as is shown in the accompanying Map) they are spread 
over a vast portion of the world, extending from Persia and the Persian Gulf on the east to the Atlantic on the west, and 
from the Mediterranean on the north to an undefined distance into the interior of Africa on the south. There are, in 
fact, but three or, at most, four distinct Shemitic languages at present spoken ; and although the history of this wonderful 
class of languages leads us far back into remote antiquity, yet a much greater diversity of dialect does not appear at any 
time to have existed. It is shown in one of the appended memoirs that the Phoenician, once pre-eminently the language 
of civilisation, was substantially the same as the ancient Hebrew ; and this conformity of language between two races of 
different origin (the Phoenicians being a Hamite, and the Hebrews a Shemitic people) is a phenomenon which yet remains 
to be explained. The Shemitic languages now disused as mediums of oral communication, and which are therefore not 
represented on the Map, are the following :— 

Samaritan, originally identical with Hebrew. 

Ancient Syriac and Chaldee, which, however, have their representative in Modern Syriac. 

Pehlvi, the ancient tongue of Media, a compound probably of Chaldee and Syriac with Zend. 

Various Arabic dialects ; Himyaritic, the parent of Ekhkili. 

Gheez, or Ethiopic, now superseded by its modern dialects, Tigre and Amharic. 

The Shemitic race is considered by eminent physiologists to equal, if not to surpass, all other branches of the human 
family, in perfection of physical formation. Yet its characteristics are by no means invariable. The Syrians, who still pre- 
serve their lineage pure and unmingled among the mountains of Kurdistan, have a fair complexion, with gray eyes, red 
beard, and a robust frame. The Bedouins, or Arabs of the Desert, are thin and muscular in form, with deep brown skin 
and large black eyes ; the Arabs in the low countries of the Nile bordering on Nubia are black, while other tribes of this 
people dwelling in colder or more elevated situations are said to be fair. The Arabs in the valley of Jordan are reported 
to have a dark skin, coarse hair, and flattened features, thereby approximating to the Negro type. The Jews differ from 
the nations among whom they are located by a peculiar cast of physiognomy : in Cochin they are black, in the south of 
Europe they are dark, while in. the north of Europe, and occasionally in England, they are xanthous, with red or light 
hair. 

The Shemitic nations have been most peculiarly honoured in being chosen as the race of whom, according to the 
flesh, the Messiah was born. To them also was given the knowledge of the one true God ; and to the Hebrews in 
particular was committed the sacred trust of the Divine oracles. Monotheism, although defaced by human inventions, 
is the religion of this race : the recognition of a false prophet prevails among the Arabs ; yet, in common with the Jews, 
they acknowledge the existence of one God. Two people of this race, the Syrians and Abyssinians, have embraced Christi- 
anity as their national religion. 



ARABIC, originally the language of a few wandering 
tribes in the desert of Arabia, is now one of the most 
widely-diffused of existing languages. It prevails in 
Arabia, Syria, Mesopotamia, Khuzistan, Egypt, Nu- 
bia, and Barbary. It is extensively employed as the 
language of religion and commerce on the eastern 
and western coasts of Africa, and it is supposed to 
penetrate far into the interior of that great continent. 
As might be expected from its vast extension, this 



language branches out into dialects as many in 
number as the countries in which it is spoken. 

EKHKILI is a modern dialect of Himyaritic, the 
southern branch of the Arabic language. It is spo- 
ken by an uncivilised mountainous tribe of Hadra- 
maut, in the south-east of the Arabian peninsula. 
Ekhkili is of especial value in an ethnographical 
point of view, as it furnishes the link between the 



MAP OF THE SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. 



Shemitic languages of Asia and those of Abyssinia. 
The ancient Himyarites are believed to have been 
Cushites, of the race of Ham. 

TIGRE, a dialect immediately derived from the ancient 
Ethiopic, is predominant in a small portion of the 
kingdom of Abyssinia. The resemblance still to be 
traced between Tigre and Ekhkili has corroborated 
the hypothesis that Ethiopia was originally peopled 
by a colony of Himyarite Arabs, who may have 
received their alphabet from India. The singular 
system of syllabification to be remarked in the an- 
cient Himyaritic alphabet (from which the Ethiopic 
was borrowed), bears a strong affinity to ancient 
Deva-nagari alphabets, as preserved in inscriptions 
of the time of Asochus. 

AMHARIC is a more corrupt dialect of Ethiopic than 
Tigre, having suffered greater changes from foreign 
admixture. Amharic is predominant throughout 
nearly all Abyssinia, but various other languages 
are likewise spoken in that kingdom. These lan- 
guages, partaking as they do of a Shemitic element 



and of the African character, form so many con- 
necting links between the Shemitic and the African 
languages. 

MODERN SYRIAC, the only living representative of 
the ancient Chaldee and Syriac tongues, is preserved 
among mountain fastnesses between Mesopotamia, Ar- 
menia and Persia. What relation this language may 
bear to the idiom of ancient Babylon and Nineveh is 
not yet precisely known; but light is rising upon the 
ruins of these ancient cities, and the arrow-headed 
characters are in process of being deciphered. With 
the capture of Babylon, in the commencement of 
the sixth century before our era, the early political 
supremacy of the Shemitic race departed ; and the 
government of the world passed into the hands of 
the Japhetic nations, by whom it is still maintained. 
And thus the fertile plains of Western Asia, the 
proper home of the Shemitic race, are governed and 
chiefly inhabited by people of the Japhetic stock, in 
literal fulfilment of the prophecy, that " Japheth shall 
dwell in the tents of Shem." Other prophecies are 
in progress of fulfilment, by which more than their 
original glory will be restored to the sons of Shem. 



*.£* A Supplemental Map, illustrating the Early Diffusion of the Hebrew language, 
will be found at page 31> following the article " Hebrew." 




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THE 



MEDO-PEESIAN LANGUAGES. 



The Medo-Persian languages form a branch or family of that great class of languages which has been variously denominated by ethno- 
graphers Indo-European, Japhetic, and Iranian or Arian. The first of these appellations indicates the geographical distribution of this 
class, one of its branches (the Sanscritic) being vernacular in India, while other branches, though connected in origin and in structure 
with Sanscrit, are predominant in Europe. The term Japhetic is sometimes applied to the languages of this class, because the nations by 
whom they ai - e spoken are supposed to be descendants of Japheth; and the designation Iranian, or Arian, refers to their connection with 
the land of Iran, or Persia, the Ariyana-Vaeja of the Zend-Avesta, and the Ariavarta of Sanscrit writers, the Ariana of Greek 
geographers. 



The area of the Medo-Persian languages includes about one-tenth part of the entire surface of Asia : the countries now 
comprehended within this area are Persia, Khorassan, Turcomania, the greater part of Turkestan, Affghanistan, Beloo- 
chistan, and Luristan ; also Kurdistan, Armenia, and a district among the Caucasus Mountains. The origin of the 
Medo-Persian nations has never been ascertained : they advanced at one step from obscurity to empire. Their very 
existence was scarcely known beyond the elevated plateau which from time immemorial they appear to have occupied, 
until their future greatness was depicted in the prophecies of Daniel and Ezekiel. Suddenly they emerged from their 
mountainous abodes, captured the " Great Babylon," and founded an empire which, in point of extent, exceeded even 
that of Rome itself. 

The physical conformation of the Medo-Persian nations, which is decidedly of the European type, corroborates the 
testimony afforded by their languages as to their affinity with the principal nations of Europe. A Shemitic language, 
the Pehlvi, is supposed to have been predominant at some very remote period in Persia, but it originated in the provinces 
bordering on Assyria ; and under what circumstances it became the general language of Media is still matter of conjec- 
ture. A yet more ancient language is the Persepolitan, a true Medo-Persian idiom, vestiges of which are preserved in 
arrow-headed, or cuneiform characters, like those of Assyria, on the monumental inscriptions which have of late years 
been discovered among the ruins of ancient Persian cities. The Zend, another Medo-Persian language, now extinct, 
and therefore not represented on our Map, is preserved in the sacerdotal books of the Guebres and the Parsees. The 
earliest religion of the Medo-Persian race appears to have been that of fire-worship. They are now, with few exceptions, 
followers of Mohammed, the Armenians being the only nation of this stock by whom Christianity has been received. 



PERSIAN, although marked in the Map as predominant 
in Persia and part of Turkestan, is only one of the 
many languages spoken in that wide territory. It is 
remarkable that all the countries properly belonging 
to the Medo-Persian race are likewise inhabited by 
tribes of foreign origin, who dwell side by side with 
the original inhabitants. Even the throne of the 
great Cyrus is occupied by a monarch of the Turkish 
race, and the whole country is overrun by nomadic 



nations of Turkish, Arabic, and Mongolian origin. 
Some of these wandering tribes, however, as the 
Hazarehs and Eymauks on the north of Affghanistan, 
speak dialects of the Persian language. 

PUSHTOO is the language of Affghanistan, a moun- 
tainous tract of country lying between Persia and 
Hindustan. The Hindkees, an Indian people speak- 
ing a Sanscritic dialect, form part of the population. 



MAP OF THE MEDO-PERSIAN LANGUAGES. 



BELOOCHEE is one of the languages of Beloochistan, 
a country situated between Afghanistan and the 
Indian Ocean. Many Tajiks, or Persians, reside in 
Beloochistan, and hence Persian prevails in some of 
the districts, especially at Kelat. The Brahooes, and 
other nations speaking Sanscritic dialects, also occupy 
part of this country. 



KURDISH is the language of the Kurds, wild nomadic 
tribes, known in history as the Carduchi and the 
Parthians. They are chiefly located in Kurdistan, a 
mountainous tract of country between Armenia and 
Persia. They likewise form the bulk of the popu- 
lation of Luristan, in the -east of Persia. 

OSSITINIAN is spoken by the Ossetes, a Median 
colony, who, in concert with Caucasian tribes here- 



after to be mentioned, occupy the central portion of 
the chain of the Caucasus Mountains. 

ARMENIAN is spoken by about one-seventh part of 
the population of Armenia, a country chiefly com- 
posed of mountainous chains, of which Mount Ararat 
forms, as it were, the nucleus. The language of 
the Armenians, and their traditions respecting their 
mythical heroes and ancestors, which are almost 
identical with those of the Persians, prove them to 
be of the Medo-Persian stock ; and it has even been 
thought that they were once one people with the 
Persians. Like the Jews, however, whom they re- 
semble in other respects, the Armenians are scattered 
as traders and merchants among all the nations of 
the world ; so that the language of Armenia, in one 
or other of its dialects, is heard in all the trading 
cities of the East. 



Engraved for "THE RIIILE OF EVERY LAND" Samuel Bagster S, Sons. Paternoster Row, London. 




♦ < 



THE 



SANSCRITIC LANGUAGES. 



Languages more or less allied to the ancient Sanscrit prevail through the whole of Hindustan. These languages are 
resolvable into three distinct divisions. 

I. — The languages which appear to be derived immediately from the Sanscrit, and which are spoken by the Hindoos, 
properly so called, in the northern provinces of the peninsula. — In this division, the three dead or learned languages of 
Hindustan, Sanscrit, Pracrit, and Pali, are included. It is evident that the race to whom these Sanscritic idioms are 
vernacular is connected with the Medo-Persian nations, from the close similarity between Zend, an ancient Medo-Persian 
language, and the idiom of the Vedas, an archaic form of Sanscrit, referred by some Sanscrit scholars to the fourteenth 
or fifteenth century before our era. Another proof of the original affinity of the Medo-Persian and Brahminical people 
lies in the fact, that some of the arrow-headed inscriptions in the Persepolitan language have been deciphered chiefly, if 
not solely, by the aid of the Sanscrit language. It seems probable that the Hindu race, at some remote epoch of history, 
separated from the Medo-Persian stock, and quitted the Iranian plateau for the plains of Hindustan. Their physical 
conformation appears to confirm this hypothesis, notwithstanding the slight variations from the original type which the 
peculiarities of the climate may have induced. With this race originated the two false religions which are now most 
widely disseminated through the Eastern world — Brahminism, and Buddhism. 

II. — The languages of the Deccan, or southern parts of the peninsula. — The race to whom these languages are 
vernacular appear to have preceded the Hindus in the occupation of Hindustan. They were, perhaps, driven to the 
south by the Hindu invaders, and were subsequently compelled to submit to the conquerors of the country, and to receive 
from them their laws, religion and civilisation. It is well known that the Hindoos subdued the Deccan at a very early 
period, and the languages of that region still bear the impress of Hindu influence. So many Sanscrit words have been 
engrafted on their vocabularies, that these languages till recently were considered to be merely Sanscritic dialects ; their 
grammatical structure, however, still maintains the original non-Sanscritic character. The physical appearance of the 
nations of the Deccan approximates to the Mongolic, rather than to the Hindu type; and their religion, though nominally 
Brabministic, retains traces of their ancient Pagan superstitions. 

III.— The languages of the wild unconquered tribes of the mountains. — It is supposed that these tribes were among 
the original inhabitants of the country, and that they sought refuge in their present mountainous abodes with the view 
of preserving their independence. In language and in physical appearance they present tolerably clear indications of 
their original community of origin with the civilised nations of the Deccan. These tribes, though exceedingly interesting 
and important in an ethnographical point of view, are at present little known, and their languages are as yet unwritten. 
Some of their vocables (as those of the Kol, Bhumij, Bajmahali, and Orissa) have been examined, and several curious 
instances of affinity have been detected between them and the Mongolian, and other languages of Central Asia. 



I. LANGUAGES OF SANSCRITIC 

ORIGIN. 

HINDUWEE, the most general language of the Hindoo 
race, prevails in the upper provinces of Hindustan, 
and is said to be understood even far beyond these 
limits. As is shown in the Map, this language 
branches out into a great variety of dialects, namely, 
the Canoj or Canyacubja, the Bruj or Brij-Bhasa, 
the Kousulu, Bhojepoora, and several others, all of 
which, however, are merely provincial varieties of 
the original Hinduwee. A distinct language, called 
Hindustani, prevails in the towns and villages of the 
Hinduwee area, and is spoken by the Mohammedan 



section of the population throughout the whole of 
Hindustan. It is the result of the intermixture of 
Hinduwee with the Persian and Arabic languages 
spoken by the Mohammedan conquerors of India. 

BENGALEE may be said to be the predominant lan- 
guage of the province of Bengal, although Hindustani 
is spoken in the towns. Two languages, the Tirhi- 
tiya or Mithili, and the Maghadha, prevail in the 
eastern part of this province. The former nearly 
resembles the Bengalee, and the latter is a derivative 
of the ancient Pali. 

ASSAMESE, the language of Assam, is supposed to 
be merely a form of Bengalee, which has superseded 



MAP OF THE SANSCRITIC LANGUAGES. 



the original monosyllabic language of the Assamese 
nation. 

UMYA, a dialect very analogous to Bengalee, is spoken 
to the south of the province of Bengal, in Orissa. 

NEPALESE, or KHASPOORA, is the prevailing 
dialect of Nepaul, an independent state to the north 
of Bengal, occupying part of the southern declivity 
of the Himalayas. This dialect exhibits the phe- 
nomenon of a Hinduwee element engrafted on a 
language of monosyllabic structure. A colony of 
Hinduwees is said to have settled in Nepaul at an 
early period, and to have commingled with the native 
inhabitants. Their descendants are called Parabatiya, 
or Parabutties ; and hence the Khaspoora, their 
vernacular dialect, is sometimes designated Parbutti, 
or Mountain Hinduwee. 

PALPA, KUMAON, and GURWHAL are border 
dialects, closely allied to Hinduwee, and prevailing 
to the north of the Hinduwee area. 

CASHMERIAN is the most northerly of Sanscritic 
languages, with the exception of the Brahooe, in 
Beloochistan. Cashmere is a mountainous country 
north of the Punjab. 

DOGURA, or JUMBOO, is an uncultivated dialect 
spoken in the hilly country north of the Punjab, but 
rather resembling Cashmerian than Punjabee. 

PUNJABEE is the language of the Sikhs, the dominant 
people of the Punjab: it is said to be derived im- 
mediately from the Pracrit, formerly the vernacular 
language of this region. 

MOULTAN or OOCH, SINDHEE, CUTCHEE, and 
GUJERATTEE are languages closely allied to 
Hinduwee, and are spoken on the western border 
of the area occupied by the Hinduwee dialects. 
Moultan is said to be the language to which Rom- 
many, the singular dialect of the Gipsies, most 
closely approximates. 

KUNKUNA, another language nearly resembling Hin- 
duwee, is spoken in the Concan, a strip of country 
bordering on the Indian Ocean. 

MAHR ATTA may be ranked either with the languages 
of Northern India or of the Deccan, for it partakes 
of the character of both. The extensive region in 
which it is vernacular is bounded on the north by 
the Sautpoora Mountains, east by Gundwana, and 
west by the maritime district called the Concan. 
On the south it is conterminous with the Telinga 
and Canarese languages. 



II. LANGUAGES OF INDIA OF 
NON-SANSCRITIC ORIGIN. 

TAMUL, or TAMIL, with its cognate dialects, the 
Malayalim and the Tulu, or Tuluvu, occupies the 
southern extremity of the peninsula, and a con- 
siderable portion of the Malabar coast. These lan- 
guages are sometimes designated the Dravirian, for 
Tamul was the language of the ancient kingdom of 
Dravira. 

TELINGA, or TELOOGOO, a language radically con- 
nected with Tamil, is spoken through the greater 
portion of the Coromandel coast, and extends inland 
till it becomes conterminous with Mahratta and 
Canarese. 

CANARESE occupies an extensive area in the eastern 
portion of the Deccan. It is conterminous with its 
cognate languages, the Tamil and Telinga on the 
east, and with the Tuluvu and Malayalim on the 
west and south, while on the north it extends as 
far as the Mahratta district. 

CINGALESE is spoken in the south of Ceylon, Tamul 
being the language of the northern district. Cinga- 
lese appears to be connected with the languages of 
the Deccan rather than with those of Upper India. 

MALDIVIAN is spoken in the Maldive Islands, east- 
ward of Ceylon, and is supposed to be a branch of 
Cingalese. The dialect of the Laccadive Islands is 
believed to be very similar to the Maldivian. 

III. RUDE & UNWRITTEN LANGUAGES 
OF NON-SANSCRITIC ORIGIN. 

GONDEE, or GOANDEE, is spoken by a barbarous 
race in the northern part of the Deccan. The pro- 
vince of Gondwana is of great extent, stretching from 
Orissa on the east to the Mahratta country on the 
west, and from Hindustan Proper on the north to 
the Telinga country on the south ; but the Gonds 
inhabit only the forest and mountain districts of this 
region, and the Mahratta language is predominant, 
especially in the western part, among the civilised 
classes of inhabitants. The Gonds have embraced 
Brahminism, but retain their peculiar Pagan rites. 
In language, customs, physical conformation, and 
mode of life, they resemble the Pulindas (a Sanscrit 
term equivalent to barbarian) of Orissa, the Bhils or 
Bheel of the Vindhya chain, and the various tribes 
of wild mountaineers scattered throughout the pen- 
insula, but principally found among the mountain 
chains of the Deccan. 



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THE 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES OF EUROPE 



The Asiatic branches (Sanscritic and Medo-Persian) of the Indo-European class of languages are exhibited in two 
Maps. A third Map comprehends all the languages of this widely-extended class which are spoken in Europe. 
These languages, while they all adhere in a greater or less degree to the Medo-Persian and Sanscritic type of 
grammatical structure, yet possess certain individual characteristics of their own. Hence it is that they diverge into 
distinctive groups or families, without however losing the evidences of their original connection with each other, and 
with a long-lost and now unknown common stem. The families of this class, by which Europe is to a great extent divided, 
are the Celtic, Teutonic, Greco-Latin, Thraco-Elyrian, and Sclavonic. The phenomenon of the intersection of the 
area apparently belonging to this class, by languages of the Basque and Finnish families, will hereafter be explained. 



CELTIC. — The Celts were the first people of this class 
by whom western Europe was colonised. At the 
time of the Romans, we find them the occupants of 
Gaul, of the British Isles, of part of Spain and 
Germany, and of North Italy. Pannonia, Thrace, 
and even Asia Minor, were at one period occupied by 
them ; and the Cimbri of Denmark are supposed to 
have been a Celtic tribe. The time of their first 
immigration into Europe is wholly unknown. After 
reaching the extreme verge of Western Europe, they 
appear in some instances to have partly retraced 
their steps to the eastward ; at least, the Celts of 
Germany and Italy were considered emigrants from 
Gaul. The Celts were compelled by the Romans 
to recede from every country in which they had 
established themselves, and afterwards they were 
more effectually subjugated by the Teutonic tribes. 
In the vast majority of instances, they became amal- 
gamated in language and manners with their con- 
querors ; and not a single trace of their religion 
(Druidism and Bardism) is now to be found, except 
in the ruins of their sacred places, as at Stonehenge. 
On the continent of Europe, where their language 
was once predominant, it has now altogether dis- 
appeared, except on a small strip of the coast of 
Brittany. In the British Isles, however, the Celtic 
language is still preserved. The following are the 
cognate dialects into which it is now developed : — 

I. — The Welsh or Cymric branch, spoken in 
Wales, in part of Brittany, and formerly in 
Cornwall. 

II. — The Gaelic branch, spoken in the Highlands 
of Scotland, in Ireland, and in the Isle of 
Man. 



TEUTONIC— After the Celts, and the Greco-Latins 
hereafter to be mentioned, the next great tide of 
population which rolled from Asia into Europe was 
the Teutonic. The Teutonic tribes, as their language 
indicates, were in a special manner connected with 
the Medo-Persian race, but the circumstances under 
which they separated from the parent stock are 
involved in impenetrable obscurity. When they first- 
appeared upon the page of history, they were mere 
barbarians, destitute of the arts of social life ; yet, 
even then, the inherent energy of this race was 
apparent : the Celtic nations were rapidly displaced 
by them, and in the fourth century they achieved 
no less a conquest than that of the Roman empire. 
Under the name of Franks, Burgundians, Alemans, 
and Visigoths in Gaul, or Heruli, Goths, and Longo- 
bards in Italy, and of Suevi, Vandals, and Ostrogoths 
in Spain, they rendered themselves conspicuous in 
the history of the middle ages ; and, unlike their 
predecessors, the Celts, they have to the present day 
retained their principal territorial possessions in 
Europe. In Spain, France, and Italy, indeed, they 
became mingled with other races, and merely con- 
tributed their quota to the formation of the languages 
of those countries; but Germany, England, Denmark, 
and the Scandinavian peninsula, still form the strong- 
hold of the Teutonic race. A great change, however, 
at least in Germany, has taken place since the com- 
mencement of the historical era in the physical con- 
formation of this people. The early Germans, as 
described by Roman writers, were a fair xanthous 
race, with blue eyes, and light and yellow hair. These 
characteristics are still preserved in the Scandinavian 
peninsula ; but in Germany itself, the dark or melanic 
variety of complexion has now become almost uni- 

d 



MAP OF THE INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES OF EUROPE. 



versal. This remarkable change has been attributed 
to the alteration produced in the climate of Germany 
by the uprooting of its vast forests. 

The languages now spoken by the Teutonic race 
are referable to two primary divisions. 

I. — The Teutonic or Germanic, properly so called, 
comprising the German, Flemish, Dutch, 
Friesic, and English. 

II. — The Scandinavian, including Icelandic, Swe- 
dish, Danish, and Faroese. For a detailed 
account of each of these languages, as like- 
wise of the now extinct Teutonic languages, 
Gothic, Alemannic, Old Saxon, and Anglo- 
Saxon, the reader may consult pp. 174-226 
of this work. 

GRECO-LATIN.— The Greco-Latins appear to have 
preceded the Teutonic tribes in the colonisation of 
Europe, at least, of the southern parts. The Pe- 
lasgic or Hellenic Greeks were probably the first 
inhabitants of Greece, especially of the inland parts. 
The Lydian and other languages of Lesser Asia, and 
perhaps the ancient languages of Macedonia and 
Thrace, were allied to this stock. Italy appears to 
have been peopled by several different nations ; and 
the origin of some of these nations has given rise to 
much conjecture. The origin of the Etruscan race, 
for instance, is a question of much interest, still 
awaiting its solution. The old Italic languages, 
comprehending the Latin, Umbrian, Oscan, Siculian, 
and some others, were in course of time absorbed in 
one language, which, under the name of Latin, 
became eventually the predominant language of the 
Roman empire. The wide diffusion of the Greek 
language at the commencement of our era, and of the 
Latin during the middle ages, has been already 
mentioned. On the destruction of the Roman empire 
by the Teutonic tribes, Latin still continued the 
language of the learned ; but the vernacular of the 
populace, which probably had previously abounded 
in provincialisms, became mixed with the dialects of 
the Teutonic invaders ; and thus a new language 
was produced, which, from the predominance of the 
Roman element, was designated the Romaunt or 
Romance. Up to the twelfth century this language, 
in its several dialectic varieties, was the prevailing 
vernacular language of Europe. In Spain it was 
called Catalan ; in South Fiance it was known as 
the Langue d'oc, Provencal or Romanese ; and in 
Italy it went by the general name of Romance. 
Each of the dialects of this widely-diffused language 
was subsequently subjected to further changes, by 
the commingling of other elements induced by 
political vicissitudes. Thus gradually arose the 
Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and the Daco- 
Roman or Wallachian languages. It will be seen, 
however, in our Map, that the language of the 
Troubadours has not wholly disappeared, dialects of 



this language still forming the vernacular of the 
Vaudois, Piedmontese, and Enghadine nations. For 
particular details concerning each of the nations and 
languages belonging to this important family, the 
reader is referred to pp. 227-288. 

THRACO-ILLYRI AN.— A people known in history as 
the Illyrians, and with whom the Thracians are con- 
sidered by some historians to have been connected, were 
probably the first inhabitants of the eastern shore of 
the Adriatic. They are supposed to have been of 
kindred origin with the Pelasgi of Greece ; and their 
language, though a distinct and peculiar idiom of the 
Indo-European stem, bears some affinity to Greek. 
This language is still spoken by the Albanians or 
Arnauts, the supposed descendants of the Illyrians, 
in the ancient Epirus, on the eastern coast of the 
Adriatic Sea. A particular account of this language 
and people is given in p. 289. 

SCLAVONIC— The origin of the Sclavonic tribes, 
and the date of their first appearance in Europe, are 
involved in much uncertainty. They are generally 
supposed to be descended from the Sarmatse, who 
in the time of the Romans occupied a region of 
Northern Europe, east of the Vistula, then known 
by the name of Sarmatia. Some writers are of 
opinion that the Sarmatae derived their descent from 
a Scythian tribe ; but in the present state of know- 
ledge this is a problem which must still remain 
unsolved. The writers from whom we obtain the 
earliest accounts of the Sclavonic nations describe 
them as differing both from the Scythian and from 
the Teutonic tribes. The Sclavoni appear to have 
had more elevated conceptions of religion than their 
Asiatic neighbours ; for although they worshipped a 
multitude of deities, they recognised the existence of 
one Supreme Being. On the other hand, unlike the 
Germans, they were possessed of the most vicious 
characteristics of Orientalists — polygamy, tyranny, 
and servility. Their physical conformation and their 
language, however, connect them with the Indo- 
European stock. They now occupy a considerable 
section of Europe, extending from the north-eastern 
extremity into the very centre of that continent. In 
some of the countries of Central Europe, particularly 
in Bohemia, nations of this race live intermingled 
with Teutonic nations, yet retaining their peculiar 
language and customs. The ancient language of 
Prussia was a Sclavonic tongue, but it is now com- 
pletely extinct, having been superseded by the Ger- 
man. The Old Prussian language, so far at least as 
can be judged from its scanty store of literature, was 
closely connected with the Lettish and Lithuanian 
languages, while in many important respects it 
differed from other Sclavonic tongues. By some 
writers, these three cognate languages are referred 
to a distinct and separate branch of the Indo-Euro- 
pean stem. For further details concerning the Scla- 
vonic tongues, see pp. 291-313. 



THE 



UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. 



Among the latest results of ethnographical investigation is the discovery that only three distinct classes of lano-ua^es 
prevail throughout the two continents of Europe and Asia. Two of these classes, the Shemitic and the Indo-European 
have already passed under review. All the languages of Europe and of Asia which are not either Shemitic or Indo- 
European, belong to a third and equally important class, with which, it is thought, even the Seriform or Monosyllabic 
languages will eventually be proved to be connected. This class, by some authors designated the Turanian, and by 
others the Einno-Tartarian stem, is spread over the whole of Northern and Central Asia, and extends into Northern 
Central, and even Western Europe. It includes the Einnish and Samoiede languages in the north ; the Georgian and 
other languages of the Caucasus region ; the Turkish, Mongolian, aud Tungusian families of Central Asia; the Japanese 
Loochooan, and Corean in Western Asia ; and the Euskarian or Basque in Western Europe. It is supposed that 
Europe was first colonised by nations belonging to this race, and that their descendants, after having being settled in 
the more fertile regions of that continent, were driven to the extreme north and west, where we at present find them, 
by the successive tides of invaders, Celtic, Pelasgic, Teutonic, and Sclavonic, who subsequently passed from Asia into 
Europe. 



EINNISH. — The Finnish languages prevail through a 
large portion of the Russian empire, occupying the 
northern part of the Scandinavian peninsula, and 
extending from Lapland and the Baltic, beyond the 
Urals, as far as the Yenisei. The origin of the 
various tribes and nations by whom these languages 
are spoken is unknown, but they appear to have been 
established from time immemorial in their present 
abodes ; and they are spoken of in early history 
under the several appellations of Tschudi, Ougres 
or Ugri, and Jotuns. The Hungarians, who furnish 
the only instance upon record of a Finnish people 
taking a conspicuous place among civilised nations, 
are located far from their brethren, in the very heart 
of Europe. This isolation from the rest of their race 
is the result of the inroads of some Turkish hordes 
upon their original country to the south of the 
Uralian Mountains. About the ninth century, the 
Magyars or Hungarians were driven westward by 
these Turkish invaders. In their turn they dis- 
possessed the Slovaks, a Sclavonian race, of the fertile 
plains of Hungary, and they have ever since con- 
tinued the dominant nation in that country. 

SAMOIEDE is the language of an abject, degraded 
race, dwelling among the tundras or marshy swamps 
of North Siberia, along the inhospitable shores of 



the Icy Ocean. The other nations inhabiting the 
dreary regions of North Asia to the westward of the 
Samoiedes are, as will be seen on the Map, the 
Iukagires, the Tchukchis, the Koriaks, the Kam- 
chatkadales, and the Ainos of the Kuriles, Jesso, and 
Sagalien Island. These nations all speak languages 
belonging to the class now under consideration. 

GEORGIAN. — The Georgian is the predominant lan- 
guage between Armenia and the Caucasus. The 
following languages, closely connected in vocabulary 
and structure with the Georgian, are likewise spoken 
south of the Caucasus : Mingrelian, Imeritian, 
Suanic, and Lazian. These languages, together with 
the Abassian, Circassian, Inguschi, and some others 
spoken in the heights and valleys of the Caucasus, 
were, till very recently, regarded as completely dis- 
tinct from each other. Recent researches, however, 
have brought to light many links of mutual affinity ; 
and it has even been proved that, in all these lan- 
guages, there are points of analogy connecting them 
with the Samoiede and Finnish languages on the 
one hand, and with the Chinese and Monosyllabic 
tongues on the other. 

TURKISH. — The Turkish nations occupy the western 
portion of that vast region, formerly known by the 



MAP OF THE UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. 



name of Great Tartary, which lies directly north of 
the civilised nations of antiquity, the empires of 
Assyria, Persia, India, and China. In the eastern 
parts of their wide area, the Turkish tribes still 
wander about, as of old, with their flocks and herds ; 
but in the empire which they have established in 
Europe and in Asia Minor, the Turks, though still 
Mohammedan, are a civilised and polished people. 

MONGOLIAN. — The Mongolian area lies between the 
Altai Mountains on the north, and China and Tibet 
on the south, while on the east it is conterminous 
with the Mantchou, and on the west with the Turkish 
area. Some of the most fierce and warlike hordes 
bv which the world has been desolated have issued 



from this region ; yet the Mongols still continue a 
nation of shepherds. 

TUNGUSIAN.— The Tungusian and Mantchou lan- 
guages are spoken by two closely-allied nations tc 
the north and east of Mongolia. The Tungusians 
retain their nomadic, pastoral habits ; but the Mant- 
chous, who are the present lords of China, have 
adopted the Chinese system of civilisation and re- 
ligion. 

EUSKAPJAN. — The Euskarian or Basque area, lying 
along the shore of the Bay of Biscay, between France 
and Spain, is exhibited in the Map. The Euska- 
rians are now generally believed to have been the 
first inhabitants of the Spanish peninsula. 



THE 



POLYNESIAN LANGUAGES 



This Map requires little or no explanation, only two varieties of language being spoken through the large portion 
of the earth's surface which it represents. These two varieties are the Polynesian and the Negritian. The former 
is spoken in a great variety of dialects in the islands of the Indian and Pacific Ocean; and the Malayan peninsula 
is the only continental region in which it has ever been known to predominate. The Negritian may be called 
with equal propriety a strictly insular language : one of its dialects prevails, indeed, in the centre of the Malayan 
peninsula, but with this exception it is spoken only in certain islands of the Indian and Pacific. It is chiefly 
predominant in the Isles of New Guinea, Flores, Timor, Louisiade, New Britain, New Ireland, New Caledonia, 
and New Hebrides (as indicated on the Map by the red tint) ; but some of its dialects are likewise spoken in the 
interior of islands where the Polynesian or Malayan variety of language is otherwise predominant. 

The Polynesian islanders approximate, in their physical conformation, to the Mongolian variety of mankind ; 
whereas those to whom the Negritian languages are vernacular resemble in some respects the Negro race. By 
some recent writers, however, a community of origin is assigned to all the natives of those widely-distributed 
islands ; and the difference in their personal appearance is attributed to the influences of civilisation, and of 
various incidental circumstances. 



THE 



AFRICAN LANGUAGES, 



The peculiarities and affinities of the African languages being fully discussed in the annexed memoirs, the Map 
which exhibits their distribution needs little explanation. Four varieties of language have been shown to prevail 
in Africa : — 

I. — The Coptic, a language derived from the Ancient Egyptian, forming a link between the otherwise dis- 
connected Shemitic and Hamitic classes. 

II. — The Berber, which as well as the Amharic, Galla, and other Abyssinian languages, is clearly connected 
with the Shemitic class. 

III. — The Nigro-Hamitic languages, so called by Dr. Krapf, because spoken by the descendants of Ham 
along the banks of the Niger and its tributary streams in Western Africa. These languages are spoken by the 
Negro race, properly so called. 

IV. — The Nilo-Hamitic languages, so named by the same eminent philologist, because he supposed that 
the original home of the race by whom they are spoken was near the sources of the White Nile. These languages, 
in their various dialects, prevail through the whole of Africa south of the equator. For a particular description 
of the languages composing this division, see pp. 397-435. 




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THE 



AMERICAN LANGUAGES. 



Notwithstanding the persevering researches, the zeal, and the learning, which have of late years been brought to bear 
upon the languages and antiquities of America, the great question respecting the origin of the first inhabitants of that 
vast continent still remains as far from solution as ever. Physiology afibrds no aid in determining this question ; for in 
the reddish colour of their complexion, in the deeply -marked outline of their features, and in other physical peculiarities, 
the American Indians differ more or less from all other classes of men. That the natives both of North and South 
America are, however, descended from one and the same branch of the human family, has been inferred from the obvious 
coincidences in the grammatical structure of their languages. But with this similarity in structure, great variety exists 
between the respective roots or vocables of these tongues ; and these glossarial differences have led to the division of 
the American languages into numerous groups or families, of which the following are the principal : — 



ESQUIMAUX is spoken along the entire northern 
coast of North America by a people who, in physical 
conformation, appear to be intermediate between the 
natives of North Asia and the hunting tribes of 
America. For a description of this nation, and of 
the Greenlanders who are of cognate origin, and who 
employ a dialect of the same language, see pp. 438- 
441. 

ATHAPASCAN, or CHIPPEWYAN, is a language 
spoken in several different dialects by numerous 
tribes who occupy a broad belt of country, stretching 
from east to west, south of the Esquimaux area. 

ALGONQUIN is the collective name of numerous 
distinct American nations, who at the first period of 
European colonisation, occupied (together with the 
Iroquois) the greater part of Canada, and all the 
northern and middle portion of the territory of the 
United States. The northern branch of this race 
borders on the Athapascan area, and reaches from 
Hudson Bay to the Bocky Mountains : it includes 
the Knistineaux or Crees, the Algonquins Proper, 
the Chippewas or Ojibways, the Ottawas, the Potta- 
wattomies, the Missinsig or Mississagis, and the 
Montagnais. The north-eastern branch comprehends 
the Abenaquis, the Micmacs, and some smaller tribes. 
The Algonquin idioms spoken along the Atlantic, 
and generally designated the New England or 
Virginian tongues, were the Massachusett, Narra- 



gansett, Mohegan, Susquehannok, and Delaware. 
The tribes to whom these languages were vernacular 
have long been driven by European settlers from 
their original territories, and some of them are 
extinct. Delaware is, however, spoken by a still 
powerful nation. It may here be observed, that in 
this Map the original as well as the present distribution 
of the several languages is indicated. The Western 
Algonquin branch includes the Illinois, Shawanoe, 
Black-feet Indian, Shyenne, and some other tribes. 
The Bethunks, who were the aboriginal inhabitants 
of Newfoundland, and who are probably now ex- 
tinct, have lately been proved to have been an 
Algonquin nation, and to have employed a dialect of 
that language. 

IROQUOIS is the name of a race dwelling among and 
encompassed by Algonquin tribes. The Iroquois 
country, it will be seen on the Map, lies in the midst 
of the Algonquin area, and is divided into two parts. 
The northern Iroquois division lies in the region 
near Lakes Huron, Ontario, and Erie, and comprises 
the Five Nations, namely, the Mohawks, Oneidas, 
Onondagoes, Senecas, and Cayugas. The Hurons or 
Wyandots also belong to this division. The South- 
ern Iroquois division occupies the country now called 
North Carolina, and comprised the Tuscaroras and 
several inferior tribes, as the Tuteloes, Nottoways, 
and Meherrins. The Iroquois, though occupying 



MAP OF THE AMERICAN LANGUAGES. 



a territory inferior in extent to that of the Algonquins, 
have enacted a more important and conspicuous part 
in history ; and at the time of the discovery of 
America they were found greatly to surpass the 
Algonquins in courage, civilisation, and intelligence. 
No remarkable difference, however, in physical 
conformation appears to exist between these two 
races. 

SIOUX, or DACOTA, is the third great division of the 
American Indians, and comprises the tribes inha- 
biting the prairie country of the interior, from the 
Mississippi to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. 
The principal nations belonging to this division are 
the Dacotas, the Winebagoes, the Assmiboins, the 
Osages, the Iowas, and the Upsaroka or Crow Indians. 
The Sioux tribes are more barbarous, and preserve 
the primitive habits of their race more than the 
eastern tribes. 

FLORIDIAN, or APPALACHIAN, is a name which 
has been applied by some philologists to the lan- 
guages originally belonging to the Southern United 
States. Some of these languages are now extinct, 
and their relation to each other is in some instances 
difficult to be discovered. The languages included 
in this group are Natchez (now all but extinct), 
Muskogee or Creek, Lower Creek or Seminole, 
Chocktaw, Cherokee, and Catawba. The Cherokee 
nation is now increasing rather than decreasing in 
numbers, and is apparently progressing towards a 
higher stage of civilisation than has yet been attained 
by any other native tribe of America. 

PANIS-ARRAPAHOES is a designation which has 
been employed by recent writers to comprehend a 
vast number of hitherto unclassified languages, pre- 
dominating within the portion of the United States 
territory lying to the westward of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, in Oregon, and in California. The term itself 
is compounded of Pawnee and Arrapahoe, the two 
principal languages of this division. These lan- 
guages have as yet been little studied, and, with the 
exception of the Pawnees, the barbarous tribes to whom 
they are vernacular are comparatively little known. 

CENTEAL AMERICA. 

MEXICAN was the language of the semi-civilised 
tribes of Mexico, at the time of the Spanish conquest 
of the country. This language was, and is still, 
spoken by the Aztec race in the dioceses of Mexico, 
Mechoacan, New Galicia, New Biscay, Oaxaca, and 
Guatemala. The other principal languages now 
spoken in the ancient empire of Mexico, and in 
Central America, are the following: — 

Otomi, spoken to the north of the Mexican area. 
Terasco, in the diocese of Mechoacan. 



Mayan, in Yucatan, Tabasco, and Merida. 

Misteco, in Oaxaca. 

Totonac, in Puebla de los Angeles. 

Huasteca, in Huastecapan, a part of Mexico. 

Zapoteca, Mixe, and six other languages in Oaxaca. 

Mame, Quiche, and six other languages in Gua- 
temala. 

Pira, and seven others (scarcely known to Euro- 
peans), in New Mexico. 

The numerous other languages of Central America are 
little known, and still unclassified. 

SOUTH AMERICA. 

Less is known respecting the ethnology of South 
America than perhaps of any other region in the 
world. The Catholic missionaries have furnished us 
with grammars, dictionaries, vocabularies, catechisms, 
and works of devotion in many of these languages ; 
but it yet remains to examine in detail the structure 
of this multitude of dialects, and to classify them 
according to their several affinities. As a provisional 
method of classification, some recent writers have 
proposed to include the almost innumerable tongues 
and dialects of South America under three grand 
divisions : — 

I. — The Andian, or Ando-Peruvian languages, spoken 
by all the nations dwelling on or near the great 
mountain chain in the west of South America. In- 
cluded in this division are, therefore, the following 
languages : Peruvian or Quichua, and Aimara, spo- 
ken in the ancient empire of the Incas in the north ; 
and in the south, the Araucanian or Moluche lan- 
guages of the Southern or Chilian Andes : closely 
allied to this branch are the languages (as Tehuel) 
spoken by the Patagonians. 

II. — The languages of Eastern South America, of which 
the principal branches are the Guarani and Tupi, of 
Paraguay and the Brazils, and the languages of the 
Caribbean group, so called because spoken on or 
near the shores of the Caribbean Sea : this group 
includes the Karif and Arawack, of which an account 
is given in pp. 473, 474. 

III. — The languages of Central South America, spoken 
by tribes who inhabit the interior forests and llanos 
or plains between the regions of the Cordillera and 
of the Parana. Little has been yet effected in ex- 
amining the structure of these languages, or the 
peculiarities of the nations with whom they are ver- 
nacular. The only languages of South America in 
which versions of the Scriptures have been given or 
attempted, are the Peruvian or Quichua, Aimara, 
Guarani, Brazilian or Tupi, Karif, and Arawack ; and 
of these a description will be found in pp. 470-474. 



THE ALPHABETS. 



After Specimen portions of the different Versions of the Scriptures had been procured 
and prepared for this Work, it appeared desirable, in order to furnish every available 
aid in the examination and comparison of these Specimens, to provide if possible 
a series of Native Alphabets. But here a serious difficulty presented itself. Many of 
the characters in which the Specimens are given are little known even to the learned in 
Europe, and some of them had never before perhaps appeared in print in this country; 
there is therefore no work to which the student can refer, if he wishes to ascertain the 
relative value of the widely-differing Alphabets in which these Specimens are printed. 

Every effort, therefore, was made to procure a complete series ; but as it was found 
that very many Alphabets could not be obtained, the design of supplying the com- 
parative Tables was about to be relinquished. 

As it is, however, well known to philologists that in the Imperial Printing-office at 
Vienna there exists an unrivalled collection of foreign types, formed by the skill and 
untiring diligence of the Imperial Commissioner, M. Alois Auer, the Publishers 
represented to the Imperial Government the difficulty experienced in enriching the 
Bible oe Every Land with the necessary Alphabets, and solicited permission to 
purchase from the Imperial Printing-office those not procurable in England. 

This appeal was immediately responded to ; and with great liberality, His Majesty 
the Emperor at once directed a complete series of the Alphabets in all the characters 

d-e 



used throughout the book, together with the powers of each letter to be forwarded 
free of cost for the use of the present work. 

The Alphabets, therefore, which the Publishers have the satisfaction to include in 
their work, are printed from types cast and prepared in the Imperial Printing-office at 
Vienna, and presented by the Emperor of Austria as a contribution to the Bible of 
Every Land. 



THE ALPHABETICAL LIST. 



PAGE 

Ahom 11 

Albanian 21 

Amharic 6 

Anglo Saxon . . . .19 

Arabic 5 

Hindustani Signs . . 5 

Persian „ . . 5 

Pushtoo „ . . 5 

Malayan „ . . 5 

Moorish „ 5 

Armenian 8 

Assamese 11 

Bengalee 11 

Burmese 2 

Cashmerian .... 12 

Chinese 1 

Cingalese 18 

Coptic 31 

Uncial .... 31 

English 19 

Old ... . 20 

Estrangelo-Syriac .... 4 

Ethiopic 6 

Georgian 24 

Ecclesiastical . . 24 

German 20 

Old 20 



PAGE 

Greek 20 

Gujerattee 13 



Hebrew . 

Rabbinical 

Hindustani- Arabic 



Irish 



Japanese : 

Chinese Signs 

■ Firokana . 

Eatakana . 

Javanese . 

Arabic Signs . 



Karnata 



Mahratta 

Malayan . 
Arabic Letters 

Malayalim 

Maldivian . 

Persian Signs 

Arabic „ 

Mantchou 

Moeso-Gothic 

Mongolian 

MoorishArabic Letters 

Moultan . 



4 
4 
5 

19 



29,30 
26—33 
. 25 
32 
. 32 

16 



14 
31 

5 
17 
18 
18 
18 
23 
19 
23 

5 
12 



PAGE 

Old English .... 20 

Orissa 11 

Pali 10 

Peguese 3 

Persian 7 

PersianArabic ... 5 

Maldivian ... 18 

Pushtoo-Arabic ... 5 

Rabbinical Hebrew ... 4 

Russian 21 

Samaritan 4 

Sanscrit 9 

Sclavonic 22 

Servian 21 

Siamese 2 

Sindhee 12 

Syriac 4 

— Estrangelo ... 4 

Tamul 14 

Telinga 15 

Tibetan 3 

Uriya 11 

Wallachian 21 

Wuch 12 



A KEY 



PRONUNCIATION OF THE ALPHABETS, 



As almost every language has sounds or articulations peculiar to itself, which can never be 
described in writing, and must be heard to be rightly appreciated, it would be vain to attempt 
to define such sounds or articulations by numbers or otherwise. All that general readers, for 
whom this Work is intended, require, is to have an approximate idea of the value of every 
letter in Foreign Alphabets. This object will be attained by the following list of elementary 
sounds, the value of which is known to every English reader. 



VOWELS. 



a pronounced like a in fat. 



a 


91 


ii 


a in father. 


e 


J» 


ii 


ay in day. 


e 


19 


ii 


e in the French tete, fete. 


e 


11 


ii 


e mute, in the French je, me, te, etc. 


i 


11 


„ 


i in pit. 


i 


11 


ii 


ea in peat. 


o 


91 


ii 


o in dot. 


6 


11 


,, 


6 in dote 


u 


11 


ii 


u in pull. 


u 


„ 


ii 


oo in pool. 


u 


11 


ii 


the French dur, pur; or like oo in 
good, as pronounced in Devonshire. 


ai 


11 


ii 


ey in eye. 


au 


11 


ii 


ow in how. 


eu 


11 


ii 


the French eu in peu, jeu, etc. 




In all other 


diphthongs or triphthongs each vowel 


is to have 


its full value independent of the others ; 


e.g. 


iao, i-a 


•o, etc. aoi, a-o-i. 



CONSONANTS. 

b, d, f k, I, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z, th, sh, to he 
pronounced as in English. 
g always hard, as in guard, game, etc. 
h prefixed is aspirate ; joined to a consonant it is guttural, 

like ch in loch. 
j as in the French, jeu, je, etc. 
ch as in Church. 
n a strong nasal. 
' between a consonant and an h, shows that they are to be 

sounded distinct, thus g'h, g-h. 
' before a consonant or a vowel is a strong guttural, as 'din, 
the letter JJ, c or c, in Shemitic languages. 
Most Indian Alphabets have a class of letters said to 
be cerebral or palatal, the pronunciation of which differs 
widely from most European sounds. Those letters are 
distinguished by a dot placed under ; thus, d, d'h, t, t'h, n, 
etc. 

In all other combinations, every consonant is to have 
its full value. 



PRONUNCIATION OF THE ALPHABETS. 



THE PHONETIC ALPHABET. 

The Phonetic Alphabet consists of 34 letters, namely, the 24 useful letters of the common alphabet (q and x 
being rejected,) and 10 new ones. C is used for the sound of sh, or as c is pronounced in " vicious, social ; " and,/ 
is used for the French, j (zh), or s in " vision." Hence tc represents ch, tch, in chess, catch ; and dj represents J, 
dg, in John, edge. Y and w are consonants ; wh being replace :1 by hw. The vowels a, e, i, o, have invariably 
their short sounds as in pat, pet, pit, pot ; u is pronounced as in pull. All the other old letters have their usual 
signification. The italic letters in the words in the third line denote the sounds of the letters. 



CONSONANTS. 

Hb, 3.A, TJ i). 

thin, tlien, sing. 
bin, den, sin. 



VOWELS. 

Thonotype. R b, 8 s. S i ; O o, CF er. UJ m ; IS s : 

Example. alms, age,air, eat; all, ope, food; son, but: 

Phonetic form, bklz, edj,sr, it: ol, e*p, fuid; s'snjb^t : 

U, as in unit, unite, duty, value, is a double letter, and is written thus : " yuinit, yuneit, diuiti, valiu." 
In the Book of Genesis, the Psalms, and the Gospel of Luke, printed in the Mikmak language by Mr Pitman, of 
Bath, in the Phonetic Alphabet, for the British and Foreign Bible Society, the vowel in son, love, but, is represented 
by " d." Since these portions of the Word of God were carried through the press, the more appropriate and ele- 
gant type " ^ " has been adopted for this sound. 

The order of the Phonetic Alphabet and the names of the letters are, 

Consonants. — k, g ; h ; y : t, d ; c, j ; s, z ; ft, d : p, b ; f , v ; w : n, n, m ; 1, r. 
Names. — Tee, ge ; etc ; ye : ti, di ; ic, ji ; es, zi ; id, di : pi, hi ; ef, vi ; we : in, en, am; el, ar. 
Vowels. — a, £ ; e, 8 ; i, i ; o, o ; s, er ; u, ui : 
Names. — at, a; et, e ; it, i ; of, o; st, o; ut, w : 



Glass I."| 



ALPHABETS. 



[Monosyllabic. 



CHINESE RADICALS. 



I 

t 

/ 

Lj 
i 



A 

A. 
)i 

A 
A 

n 

j-* 

v 
n 

u 

711 

'!J 
ij 

c 

+ 

a] 
r 

A 38 



10 



12 



13 



14 



15 



16 



17 



18 



19 



20 



21 



22 



23 



24 



25 



26 



27 



P 
□ 
± 

Hi. 35 

A 



32 



33 



34 



36 



37 



38 



39 



m 


40 


Tf 


41 


*> 


42 


% 


43 


r 


44 


* 


45 


Hi 


46 


JH- 




ra 




« 


!> 47 


{ J 





48 



49 



rfj so 
T « 

& 52 

r 

3L 

ft 

a. 



29 



53 
54 
55 
56 
57 

58 



59 



60 



> 61 



62 



AS 
f 
+ 
+ . 

1} 

II 

H 

5E 

B 

£ ' 6 
jt 

#. 

it » 
fl- 
it 

m 



63 



64 

65 

66 

67 
68 
69 
70 
71 
72 
73 
74 
75 



77 



78 



80 



81 



82 



83 



84 



>k 

mi 

7!tJ 

A 

+ 1 
*) 

5E 

J 

as 
x 



85 



87 



90 
91 
92 

■ 93 

94 
95 

96 

97 

98 

99 

100 

101 

102 



103 



ffl 
11 
& 

y 104 

>/t 105 

a 
& 

in. 

on - 



106 

107 
108 

109 



rt 

JtJ 

*1 
w 

Don 



no 
in 

112 
113 
114 

115 

116 
117 
118 

119 



y 120 



121 



ffn 



122 



31 



i*il 



123 
124 
125 
126 
127 

128 

129 

130 

131 
132 



133 



& 
ft 

ffl 

•V-J 
in 

ffiUa 

flE J 



134 



135 



136 



137 



138 



139 



140 



141 



142 



143 



144 



145 



1 
ft 



147 



148 



.5. lw 
P J 
^ 150 

S. 151 

3^ 152 



P. 



153 
154 
155 
156 
157 
158 
159 
160 



1=1 

e 
P 



£ 



Si 
P 



N 



^1 



a 



^ 



161 

► 162 

• 163 

164 
165 
166 
167 

168 

169 

170 

171 
172 

\ 173 

174 
175 
176 
177 
178 
179 
180 
181 
182 
183 

184 

185 



/ J3* 186 

% 187 
i@» 188 

. . ^ 189 
IS J 
J|5 190 

191 
""g' 192 

m i9s 

194 
195 
196 
197 
198 
199 
200 
-S- 201 
2%Z 202 
Eft 203 
204 
205 
206 
207 

K, 208 

-S- 209 

7m 210 
ijfc 211 
£|5 212 



213 



214 



A 






Class I.] 



ALPHABETS. 



[Monosyllabic. 



BURMESE. 



33 a 

*330*1 a 
S\° i 

O | - 

8«- u 

33 ■ 

G(5jO o 

■5" aB 



h 
ka 



k'ha 



8 
CO 

O s a 

?25 g'ha 

C na 

cha 

90 ch ' ha 

<^g) dja 

QJ dj'ha 

p na 

Q ta 



S tha 

O 9 da 

y d'ha 

OD na 

00 ta 

00 t'ha 

3 da 

Q d'ha 

Q na 

O pa 

v9 p'ha 

O ba 

00 l) ' na 
Q ma 

co y a 

Q G[ ra 
CO la 

O va 

O sa 

sha 

CO sa 

OO h 

8 la 



Oo 

OO 



OO 

IL 

CO 

@ 



Mm 

ku 
kae 

kyo 

kra 

kri 

krva 



°3 
°8I 

O 

31 



O 
L 

O 

C 

6 

o 

o 



IL 



4 

$ 



k'ham 

k'hya 
thrva 

gu 
nam 
ch 
cham 

chum 

chcha 

chva 
ch'o 

dj 
djja 



Etgatttreg. 

£?) djj'ha 
n 

ncha 
dam 
di 

d'ham 
n 

una 
tta 

th'u 
thth'i 

th'va 

di 
du 

dd'ha 

dd'yo 

d'hrim 

d'hri 

n 
nti 

ndi 



O 

9 

oo~ 



C22 
no 

oo 
oo 



oc. 



CO 

o 

3 



I 

3 





6 



IL 



9 



«? 



% 
% 

k 
a 



°? L 



°91 
5 



f 



1 






pra 

hya 
m 

mu 
mya 

■ mha 

mhu 
mhu 
re 
rva 

rha 

lu 

lya 

-va 

vai 

ee 



SIAMESE. 



11 
-J 



hnoit 



ya 

J half 
1 pause 

J whole 
] pause 



07 



0* 



9 



o 


l) 

3) 

*/] 

?) 

40 

<$0 
?0 
407 



n> 
f) 
n 



W 

V\ 
Q 
U 
V 
<rf 
CJ 

cJ 
w 

w 

J) 

V 



Fa 
da 

ta 

t'ha 

na 

ba 

pa 

p'ha 

fa 

p'ha 

f'ha 

p'ha 

ma 



an 
m 
h 
ka 



k'ha 



ch'a 



d 


ra 


6) 


la 


3 


va 


a* 


sa 


V) 


ha 


W 


ba 


J- 


ao 


m 


ka 




kl 


fl 


ki 


fl 


ki 


fi 


ku 


n 


KU 



V 



ku 



Fofael Signs. 

^ <j « « J e » 



Class I.] 



ALPHABETS. 



PEGUESE. 



^O H,g cB P h < bh 



"O kh, kg 
C n 
POch.j 

OQt,d 
OO th,dh 

V n 

O P.b 



m 

00 y 
q r 
COi 

O v 

TO h 

QO h 

->5 a 



3Lfpttt«8. 



73 ka 
KT^ ka 

r^ku 

€Y) ke 



6Y3 ke 



GY7} k0 

Tj5 k - 

-Q kai 
"YjO kau 
•Y5 ko 

tf koi 



[Monosyllabic. 



TIBETAN. 



<5I 






■V . 
131 

■fii 



"3, a'a 

^ u 

3 'u 

1] ka 

p tha 

*| ga 

C, na 

7 ca 

S ch'a 

E, ja 

^ na 

f) ta 



S t'ha 
*\ da 

^ na 
1 pa 
^ p'ha 
*J ba 

31 ma 

-3 za 

s, z'ha 

E, za 

(Jj va 

^ ja 

3 za 

P, h 

U| ya 

3^ ra 

aj la 

?| sha 

^ ssa 

?j ha 

151 a 



jFigures. 

^ A 2 «/ V* 

12 3 4 5 

<£ $ < {2 o 

6 7 8 9 



Section. 



Pause. 



2LijjatttW0. 



3 ku 

'JJ kva 

3 kya 

§ kyu 

^ kra 

U kra 

2] kla 

|3 k'hu 

R k'hva 

1 ka 

(S khya 

F k'hra 

J| k'hra 

^ gva 

S gya 

.§ gyu 

*J gra 

^ g™ 

^ grva 

SI gla 
5] gssa 
5 nu 

S nss 

^ chu 

^ ch'u 

f ch'va 

■1 ju 

•S nu 

^ nva 

>§ tu 

5 tra 



1] thra 

■§ du 

< dva 

s dra 

~9 dra 

■5 nu 

3 pu 

§ pya 

^ pra 

3 P'hu 

g P'hya 

§ P'hyu 

2 p'hyva 
.§ P'hru 

3 bu 
B hya 

§ hyu 

^ bra 

^ bss 

|j bra 

3 bla 

| blu 

■§ mu 

U mya 

§ myu 

^ mss 

5 ju 

*5 jva 



zla 
zlu 



I -ya 
« yu 

3> ra 
|j rkya 
D rgya 

^ rgyu 
£, rna 
■5 rcha 
g, r Ja 
5 nia 
S rta 
5 rda 
5 rna 
5 rba 
fj rma 
f} rmya 
^ rchva 
^ rva 
S ria 
§j Iga 

*gJ Ina 

§J lea 

% «a 

3 lta 

? Ida 

Sj lpa 

^ lba 

H lbu 

^ Iva 

^ lha 
^ shu 
fl shva 



■^ ssu 

7?) ssku 



m sskra 
^ ssga 



a ssgyu 
*j ssgra 

fj ssgra 
^ ssna 
S ssna 

3 ssnu 

K ssta 

5 ssda 

A ssdu 

x ssna 

§ ssnu 

5 ssnra 

jj sspa 

zi sspu 



■gi sspra 

g ssbra 

^1 ssma 

§1 ssmya 

S ssmra 

Sf ssza 

^ ssra 

§j ssla 

^ hva 

^ hra 

5 hra 



Class II. J 




AI 


,PHA 


BETS. 


[Shemitio. 


HEBREW. 


RABBINICAL. 


SAMARITAN. 


SYRIAC. 


ESTRANCELO SYRIAC. 


{< f spirit 
1 lenis 


f« 


A- /spirit 
*• t lenis 


i 


1 / spirit 
(.lenis 

*a ^2 £> b, v 


rr / IT* / spirit 
lL - lL \lenis 


3 b, b'h 


3 


3 1), b'h 






j?nnni. 








^ 


"^ ^ t> g 




J g. g'h 


J 


Y g. 8"b 


r 


? d 


-i d 


1 d, d'h 


7 


f d, d'h 


01 


a. h 


qi he 


n h 


l> 




o 


a w, u 


ci a w, u 


1 w, u 


1 


3f h 


1 


> ds 

'-"■ ■"• *• kh, hh 


ju. kh 


? ds 


t 


£ w, u 






V * 








-J 


^ ■*■ -J t 


11 kh 


i> 


^ ds 






Jk. -k. _h j 






ML 


v* a : .» j 




a t 


V 








C ^. ^ c, k 






\£ kh 


t 


+ a a k, kh 


j,i 


t 








Xj 






^ t 


\ 


V ^ ^ 1 




2 *7 k, kh 


3 1 






fn ni m 








>o 


in io m 




b i 


5 


fil J, I 


\ 


_ i J n 


,-j. i 


Q D m 


P 














*4 k, kh 


vlff 


ua £a ' » s 


^ s 


j r » 

D s 


J 1 


I 1 


\ 


V 1» i u 


A p. ph 


V 


1? 


^ m 


wS 


>~a a s p, f 


J£ 








>S 


\S ts, z 


o. n :0 k 


P| p, ph 


p 9 


5 - 


i-0 


u2 n £> !: 


*i 


X f ts 


i r 


^ S 


» 


r r 


I L I L sch 


P 


P 




M. 


* x. i^. sch 


A V V tth 


1 >" 
2? sch 


"5 

D 


V a 

P, Ph 


2. 


£. k th 


















fLijjatates. 


Higatores, etc. 


n *. th 


P 


•fll ts 


% 


i. i. X n 


LiS, > 


U / aleph 
N [lamed 












S q 


% 


y ^ "^ gg 

{1 p la 


li n 






Fotoel anH otfjr 


c .Signs. 

-.1 V 


^ r 






^ zu 

i 










uu. sch 




UflfM Stgng. 


•V <l H > f 


i: : - 










o q o * A 


■» i. 


A *. tb 


Q > 


. . " , •» •» V 


♦ b 


,, ; < j 


1 











Glass II.] 



ALPHABETS. 



[Shemitic. 



ARABIC. 



Final. Medial. Initial. 

\ [ V. "\ Va.e.i.o.u 

^ j. < ; ? j s, th 




f^tr 



6 A 



*> < » m 



■i i » j n 



J J : JJ w ' u 



4 i, h, t 



^■^c> t 



i \ i 



^ y i 






bch 
br 
bm 
bh 



_? bj 
*£ Wj 

s£ tkh 

J- tr . 

fir tm 

^ thh 

' sr 

c*c sm 

^ sh 

^* hh 
<2«. hdj 
SH hhdj 



iLfgatures. 

S" hhh 

«s" schdj 

<? schh 

s~* schkh 

^Z* schh 

X kdj 

^ kh 

t a* 

u im 

5=" s'h 

^ sdj 

<£? ssh 

g? sskh 

<S kh 

'■k kkh 

^_ lkh 

^ ldj 

f mm 



ss m'h 

*S mkh 

*£■ mdj 

•J nh 

^r nm 

/- nr 

*£ ndsch 

*_? ny 

> nmkh 

s£ h'h 

^ hdj 

^s£ yh 

*r ydj 
^ yr 

C *jf ym 

trtr yh 
*_?• yy 

^ ^j, lam-elif 



PERSIAN ARBITRARIES. 



J j French 



?f 



tsch 
g 



PERSIAN LIGATURES. 



Ffitoel <Sfp;s. 



jftgures. 
. i A V V o f i. r| t \ 

098765 432 1 






HINDUSTANI LETTERS. 
:: 



r'h, d'h 
n, n 

k"h 
d'h 

ph 
t'h 



r"(d) 



$ g* 

V p 



■>, r 

$} kh 

*■* dh 

«; bh 

& th 



s£ 


ptsch 




pr 


u? 


Pj 


<? 


sstsch 


i 


ktsch 


S2 •£. 


mtsch 


$ r 




£ 


h'ch 



* 


pch 


s£ 


stsch 


rv 


p'h 




p-schtsch 


«£*" 


J 


jtJ. 


ltsch 


¥ *. 




s£ 


nmstch 




jtsch 



v* 



btsch 
ttsch 



*.r pm 

♦ « 

}■ stsch 

X kjtsch 
«£ W ntsch 
htsch 



» » 



PUSHTOO LETTERS. 
^ tS J, Z' (j^» ch 



MALAYAN LETTERS 

i i - 



A 9 P 

c> n 



MOORISH LETTERS. 



& &■ -^ 
J* if* A 

X X 



■) 






d 
ds 

ss 

dh 

th 
dh 

f 



Class II.] 








ALPHABETS. 






[S 


HEMITIC. 








ETHIOPIC 


AND AMHARIC. 












U ha 


UJ 


sa 


<b qa 


"^ kha 


n 


ka 


H za 


*£ dya 


^ 


pa 


T 


pa 


IT hu 


u> 


su 


$ qu 


■J. khu 


Tfr 


ku 


If zu 


E^ 


ft 


pu 


¥ 


pu 


y. hi 


IH. 


si 


<{> qi 


"% khi 


U 


ki 


H. * 


£ dyi 


/l 


Pi 


X 


Pi 


V ha 


W 


sa 


$> qa 


5 kha 


"a 


ka 


H za 


£ dyi 


A 


pa 


J 


pa 


VI he 


Ul 


se 


«£ qe 


■^ khe 


^a 


ke 


H, ze 


j£ dye 


ft 


pe 


'£ 


pe 


\) h 


<UJ 


s 


^> 1 


1$ kh 


■n 


k 


•H - 


JF dy 


fc 


P 


T 


P 


U 3 ho 

A la 
A* lu 


*P 
4. 


so 

ra 
ru 


4> qo" 

ft ha 
ft- hu 


•f° kho 

^ ua 


"ft 


ko 

cha 
chu 


H zo 
n ]a 

•H= ju 


£ dyo" 

7 ga 
7. Sa 


ft 


po 

tza 
tzu 


T 


po 


IBtpttijonp. 
*|*o kua 


A, ii 


& 


ri 


ft. bi 


S - 


11 


chi 


K Ji 


1 gi 


ft 


tzi 


^ 


kui 


A la 


L 


ra 


ft ba 


i na 


-n 


cha 


"H" ja 


? ga 


a 


tza 


£ 


kua 


A, io 


I 


re 


a ° e 


£ ne 


"U 


che 


K 36 


1 ge 


ft 


tze 


$ 


kue 


A i 


C 


r 


-P b 


\ - 


-vi 


ch 


K j 


<7 g 


ft 


tz 


<P- 


ku 


A? io 


C 


ro 


n bo 


Y no 


n 


cho 


tp _ 

r 30 


*} go 


8 


tzo 


•5o 


chua 


/h ha 


ft 


sa 


rji ta 


T*gaa 


(D 


wa 


P ja 


fll tha 


e 


za 


■^ 


chui 


dv hu 


fr 


su 


f tu 


■£ gnu 


(D. 


wu 


B u 


(ft-thu 


6- 


zu 


5 


chua 


rh. hi 


ft. 


si 


^h ti 


"£ gui 


X 


wi 


a 31 


fRthi 


% 


zi 


^ 


chue 


*h ha 


ft 


sa 


^ ta 


V gna 


¥ 


wa 


■^ ja 


fT| tha 


9 


za 


-^ 


chu 


rh> he 


ft, 


se 


■fc te 


T gne 


<B 


we 


£ je 


fft, the 


£ 


ze 


^ 


kua 


(U h 


h 


s 


^ t 


^ gn 


(D* 


w 


£ j 


^ t'h 


6 


z 


YK 


kui 


fh ho 


ft 


so 


•f- to 


*? gno 


XD 


wo 


P- Jo 


(ft t'ho 


<P 


zo 


MX 


kua 


(P ma 


n* 


scha 


*f*tya 


A a 





a 


£ da 


*TTT tscha 


^ 


fa 




kue 
ku 


(J> mu 


H- 


schu 


^ tyu 


^ u 


O 


u 


£ du 


Yft^tschu 


^ 


fu 




(£} mi 


H. 


6chi 


4j w 


A. » 


Pi 


i 


£ « 


nx tscM 


>i 


fi 


> 


gua 


1 &\ ma 


n 


scha 


3" tya 


A a" 


Ol 


a 


■*i da 


^T tscha 


4 


fa 


*K 


gui 


CRl me 


R, 


sche 


^3 tye 


ft, e 


^ 


e 


i*d de 


YH, tsche 


A 


fe 


^ 


gua 


{F> m 


Ti 


sch 


?f ty 


ft e 


6 


e 


£" d 


tip tsch 


<£ 


f 


^ 


gue 


CTi mo 


P 


scho 


^ tyo 


* 0- 


<P 





i? dn 


fTIf tscho 


A 


fo 


7* 


gu 


£ new foi 


to for re 


• 
• 


to divide the 


words from eacl 


1 other. 


SS to divide the £ 


entences. )j 


i. used only i 


n the Bible. 






• 


These characl 


,ers, with their 


seven 


vowels, are peculiar t 


the Amharic. 











CXASS III.] 



ALPHABETS. 



[Indo-Exteopean. 



PERSIAN. 



u 



& 

t 
I 

X 
J 



if 

j 

t 

u 

rt 

w 





I I a e,i, o,u 

» « „ - 



2- «i 

^ tsch 

t w» 

> d 

j ds 

V r 



lT 



sch 






</ ss 

j ts 

J> t 

V B 

£< ' a > % '°» ' U 

6 gh 






J 



u 



J 

r 



~> *<■ 



(J n 
i w, u 



~'** 



y.i 



fl 

r- 



ft A 






f 

J 



f 



ba 

bd 
bk 

bm 

br 

Pd 

pr 

pk 

p'h 

sr 

s'hr 

s'h' 

s'h 

s'y 

tb 

t'h' 

t'h 

tr 

tm 

t'h 

ty 

h'b 
h'p 

h'r 
h'm 

h'h 
h'j 

khm 

sa 
sdj 



ILfptures. 



» * 
> 



i 



i 

J 

r 

r 
j 



stsb 

s'h 

sr 

shr 

s 

tsr 

tr 

sr 

sh 

'ab 

'as 

h'r 

ghr 

chr 

ndsch 

fr 

fm 

fy 
kr 
km 

fey 

ka 
kk 

kl 
mk 

km 

ky 
lb 
Id 
IP 



J 

J 

M 

U 



6 

j 



4 
> 



lr 

iy 

la 
lma 
lm 
Ih 

iy 

ma 

ms 

nd 

nh 

Tim 

ny 

htd 

hi 

ha 

hnd 

hsd 

-hn 

-hp 

yd 

yh 

blh 

plh 

yr,lr 

smr 

sdh 

tmr 
ghh 

khdj 

khr 



> 

* 

r 

J, 



} 






s'hm 
bkk 

jkk 

p'hir 

t'hr 

'ap 

'apr 

sm 

gbj 

ghr 

gbjr 

s'hma 

pkk 
llh 

ndh 
nhr 
nmr 
htd 

yr 

ylh 

by 
ny 

•m 

khdj 

h'dj 

stsh 
k. 
ghj 
p : hr 



ClASS III.] 



ALPHABETS. 



[ IyPO-EpROPEAM. 



ARMENIAN. 






A^* 



2)> 



dz 



SK'L'i * 



[\ pe P 

*h 1 * k 

| t> A- ye, e j f\ , 

|u [u fa kh 






IJV/^m 






C^-l. sh 



(I 



ii 1. 1. tsh 



iV \n "f 



„{^£i> stsh 

U- * 



"» d 



rv* 



3 3 B ts 



]* *- u, v 

<I> ^ •P P (hard) 

*-J^ ^ .£> k (hard) 

()o o 



Jfc rne 
£/£ mn 
»/J mg 



SLfgatttwg. 

ii% mi 
tfh wn 

«w mkh 



i/£ me 



A. yew 



C- a 

{^t y e . e 

ljfr e 

(<)» £ ft t'h 

]n J» J» kh 



& 



«^ mg 



faints. 



Italic. 

^y* & dz 

llH « 

A* * 

^^ dz 

'l^_tf gh 

7\'^ dj 

($</</ h,j 

n- o 

12 ^_ i. tsh 



ILfgatureg. 

J» mi 

^ wn 
•>L mkh 



,^£_ stsh 

fl* *- rh 

D- - 

8r d 

fV r 



(> 5 ? ts 



(|> X 4 P ( har d) 
vf \ + k (hard) 



J^ me 

L yew 



Class III.] 



ALPHABETS. 



[Indo-European. 



5T a 
mi a 



M 



*Ti- ^ 



aft 

an 

*T 
^T 
sT 



k"ha 

ga 

g'ha 

na 

cha 

ch'ha 

dja 

dj'ha 

na 

ta 



b'ha 



ya 



• sa, sha 



sha 



3£ la 



figures antj Pm'ntg. 



2 3 



3 
4 



S 



M 

5 

O 
10 



^ k 
§fj kka 
ffi kta 
i$*T Wya 
PT ktra 
75H ktwa 

WI taa 
^T knya 
cH kma 
^T kya 
^J kra 

^T kiya 
=fr kla 
6^7 kwa 
7^ ksh 
3" ksha 
lo k'h 
T3 k'hna 
1^ lfhra 
T|J k'hwa 
7 g 
T gn 

5J gna 

I! 

I 

£ 
f 

ST 



gr 

gra 

g'h 

g'lma 

g'hra 

nka 

nksha 

nk'ha 

nga 

ng'ha 

nna 
nma 
nya 
ch 



SANSCRIT. 



^[ choha 
5j chna 

Tf chra 

^§[ chwa 
^J ch'hma 

^J ch'hya 
© ch'hra 
§> ch'hwa 

5JT djna, nya 
U ajra 

^[ ncha 

^ ndja 

%T nna 

6 ttsa 

}f *P a 

^J tma 

§T tya 

7£ tsha 

$? tsa 
<£[ thma 

SJ * h y a 

^ dda 
•& ddlia 

to 

\S dbha 
21 dya 
fo d'hna 

^J d'hma 
^T d'hya 
tj n 
TJf nna 

r t 
rf tta 

^ ttra 

<5| ttv/a 



iLigatawg. 

eT 
5 






5 
5 



tn 

tna 

tra 

twa 

t'h 

du 

du 
dr 



dgra 



dg'hra 
dda 
ddra 
ddwa 

dd'ha 

dd'hna 



Col dd'hya 



dna 
dba 

& dbra 

lv db'ha 

^J db'hya 

^ db'hra 

^T dma 

^T dya 

5^ dra 

?3" drya 

& dwa 

5J dwya 

& dvra 

£ d'h 

^J d'hna 

y d'hra 

^J d'hwa 



f nt 

?T nta 

«^ ntr 

•5*1 ntrya 

^pf ntwa 

~$ nna 



^ 


nra 


c 


P 


F 


pt 


R 


pta 


3 


pna 


ST 


pra 



£" Pla 

C[ pwa 

IZf pvya 

EJ>| p'hma 

^f?J P'bya 

O b 

^f bra 

3.' b'h 



I 

r 
I 

T • 

% ™ 

^[ lna 
ST Ua 



b'hra 
m 

mna 
mra 
mla 
mwa 

y 

r- 






s, sha 



sha 



^ 


sra 


^ 


scla 


SF 


swa 


5 


sh 


^ 


shta 



'ST sht y a 

^ shtha 

^ shthya 

^T shna 

a[ shwa 



stra 



? 
3 



sla 
h 



§» hu 

^ hu 

^ hr 

«(f hr i 

^T bna 

Sf' hna 

^Qi hma 

^1 hya 

J^T hra 

^T hrya 

^ Ua 

*@ hwa 

^J hvya 





Class III.] 




ALPHABETS 






P 


NDO-EUBOPEAN. 




PALI. 






glpfjafcrt. 






ILtgatuua. 








H * 


HI ka 


•ft da 


fill kya 


on " 


■ta 


"1 

{•ma 

ta J 






a 9 e a 


Q gj d'ha 


ill ■" 


oSlJ 






Ml l 
















Q££ g'ha 


1 na 


nP* 


o7 fl 


M mu 


5 ' 
















g na 


i| pa 


XAffl §' ha 


°lt tu , 


|1 mba 




?y ' 


JJ cha 
|>«n| ch'ha 


tSt P'ha 


a' 


«■ 


B1 tva 


M mbu 




S - 


(5 B dja 


O ba 


OB 


■cm 


flR tva 


an ya 




© - 




8B b'ha 


oa - 




* dd'ha 


ttj| yya 




8 ■ 


gj dj'ha 


M ma 


H chcha 








a • 


31 na 


ua ^ 


A chcha 


Jo dva 


A ru 




gf ta 






| nu 


ff sl 




i. al 




fl\ ra 


SI chya 








SI 


»» t'lia 






i*wfc n * a 


*1 










IN' 




gj djj'ha 






■si 




& o 


P da 

*• rt'h a 


«M - 


•la 


21 ncha 


JL. nd'ha 


in - 






Qm au 


nn M 


(J| O va 


8 * 


nna 


H| ssa 
4>a division 




m 


0| 


II sa 


fc ttha 


O bba 






i 


m t'ha 


111 ha 


^29 mla 


fll bha 


B*~ umi 



10 



Glass III.] 






ALPHABETS. 


[I 


NDO-EtTEOPEAK. 


BENGALEE. 


AHOM OR ASSAMESE. 


URIYA OR ORISSA. 


vST a 


Q 


na 


Y^ 


k, g 


IX) Ph,bh 


21 a 


£ 


ta 


■^srf til 


t 


ta 














if i 


i 


t'ha 


YD 


kh, gh 


\? m 


211 I a 





t'ha 


Stf i 


5 


da 








<§ O i 


& 


da 






d'ha 
na 


V 


n 


UO y 


*>7 i 


s 


d'ha 


© K * 


\3 


ta 








$3" u 

S- u 


<51 


na 


# 17 * 

# rr 




t'ha 
da 


yo 


ch, j 


-Cg r 


s 


ta 


S3 1 
3CE e 

4t ai 

©ft o 


5f 


d'ha 
na 

pa 
p'ha 




n 
t, d 


TV} 1 


3 ai 


^ 


t'ha 

da 

d'ha 


(£> eft au 


^ 


ba 








13 I o 


5T 


na 


■^J ka 
Jlf k'ha 




b'ha 
ma 


XX) 


th, dh 


vy s 


(3G (Si! au 


81 


pa 


*t ga 


^ 


ya 








-a m 


ff 


p'ha 


^ g'ha 
t!> na 


^7 


ra 
la 


*? 


n 


Y\ h 


1 « 


% 


ba 


f> cha 
^ chcha 


IT 


sa 
sha 


\J 


Pb 


Y*? a 


$ ka 


^ 


b'ha 


v5i dja 
^T dj'ha 


t 

5 


sha 

ha 








^ k'ha 
^ ga 




ma 

ya 














Etgatores. 


(9 g'ha 


5 


ra 


SLtgattt 


CfS. 












^S 3 kta 


3 


pra 


Y*\ 


ka /rofi b 


£*» na 


^ 


la 


2J 5 kra 


O 


b'hra 








^ cha 


^ 


va 


?3> kya, ksha 
Sf gna 


T 


-ya 

-ra 


n 


ka 


rib b 


g chcha 


si 


sa 


^3 djna, nya 
*% ncha 
<& n'dja 




r- 
ru 

-la 


j 


ki 




§ dja 
$ djha 


3 
a 


sa 
sha 


5} tra 


at 


11a 
sra 


■A 


ki 


y^ kai 


^ na 


£ 


ha 


T^ - dda 


^ 


swa 


















^j\ dm 
If d'hva 


■33 


shta 
shna 


n 


ku 


yvy kau 


SLigataws, 




Tj" -na 


w 


sta 








§? kra 


*r 


tra 


T ntu 


^ 


st'ha 


n 


ku 


TmT kau 


^ ksha 


q 


-ya 


^j nt'ha 


*3T 


sma 








Pj 


9 


stha 


<J\ nd'ha 


* 


swa 


/ y^ 


ke 


Y^ b keu 


VJ chchi 


% 


shta 


3J nma 


3" 


stra 












; 


q" nva 

$ pta 


o- 

1 


m 

pause 


/rV 


ke 


V$ koi 


<^f kna 
gj t'hi 


U 


mb'ha 
pause 



11 



Class III.] 



ALPHABETS. 



[Indo-European. 



SINDHEE. 



m 


a 


o 


i 


© 


u 


a. 


ka 


3 


kha 


h 


ga 


V) 


gha 


s 


ca 


*3 


cha 


31 


ja 


«* 


jha 


3 


na 


3 


ta 


"(, 


tha 


*y 


da 


>>l 


na 


2) 


ta 


*\ 


tha 


^ 


da 


(J 


dha 


■^ 


na 


1 


pa 


* 


pha 


Tit) 


ba 


•*l 


bha 


*l 


ma 


^ 


ya 


2- 


ra 


s 


la 


o 


va 


v\ 


sa 


3 


ha 


^ 


tra 



WIOULTAN OR WUCH. 



rr 



6 


i 


© u 


3 ka 


<JL 






• kha 


oc.J 


M. ga 


<y ca 


£ cha 


31 J a 


vT da 


ii\ na 


3 ta 


^ 


tha 



\ da 



^5 dha 

rl na 

^ pa 

Ui pha 

<^A ba 
T| ma 

£j, ya 



CASHMERI AN. 



/^ la 

C va 

c£ sa 

5 ha 

^ tea 

• pause 

vr~ 



^J a 

^ a 

of i 

*<| i 

3- u 

3» "^ u 

1; r 

TT r 

IT 1 

17" 1 

T 1 " — e 

F"_±_ ai 

T" 



33 
TT 
IT 

TT 



au 

m 

h 

ka 

kha 

ga 

gha 

na 

ca 

cha 

ja 



iQ jha 

"PJ na 

XT ta 

O tha 

"JJ da 

If dha 

J na 

3 ta 

■q" tha 

3o da 

XT dha 

=f na 

If pa 

ZS P ha 
•3 ha 

«& hha 
» ma 

"Q ya 

7 ra 

rfT la 

H va 

If ca 

If sha 

^ sa 

T\ ha 



3Lfgatutcs. 



?\ kya 

^ cu 

^ jya 

^{ tma 

3 ta 

^ ncu 

=J nu 

^J nya 



T£ pra 

Hf mpa 

=5 rja 

UL cu 

3^f sma 

"^" sva 

£T hya 

f / vowel 

> \ omitted 



Class III.] 








ALPHABETS. 






"Ikdo-Eukopean. 










CUJERATTEE. 






| 


*M a 


-51 


djha 






SLfgatureg. 




J 


an J 


2 


ta 


*2 


fci 


jfl dj'hi 


a 


t'hu 


3] 


■b'hu 


2rtlJ 


& 


tha 


& 


ku 


^ dj'hu 


i. 


t'hu 


3 . 




6 


da 


K 


ku 


-^ dj'hu 


4 


di 


1" 


_ 
■b'hu 


5 » 


<s> 


dha 


ua 


k'hi 


27 ? 


i 


du 


%J 




@ * 


Ui 


ua 


s 


k"hu 


J !° 


1 


du 


41 * j 


$ " 


it 


ta 


% 


k-hu 


^ * 


«a 


d'hi 


% TO 


2. r 


24 


t'ha 


ott 


gi 


il *' M 


S 


d'hu 


^ ™ 


an 




^ 


da 


a 


gu 


J t-hu 


1 


d'hu 


<A ii 


\. 


*c 


* 


d'ha 


s j. 


gu 


X t'hu 


4 


ni 


a lu 


am 




H 


na 


efl 


g'hi 


A ? 


3 


nu 


^ * 




.0 


H 


Pa 


a 


g'hu 


i ^ u 


*. 


nu 


*l ri 


*s . 




M 


p'ha 


1 


g'hu 


$. * 


«fl 


Pi 


J ra 


am 

<> - 


■au 




ba 

b'ha 

bhu 




chi 
chu 
chu 


fi d'hu 
(5 d'hu 


5 
id 


pu 
pu 
p'hi 


*fl si 

^ su 


% ka 


*H 


ma 


«fl 


chchi 


lifl f 


£ 


p'hu 


34 su 


Vi tha 


<H 


va 


% 


chchu 


U*> ?" 


k 


p'hu 


*fl Bhi 


01 ga 


<<l 


la 


K 


chchu 


Uk " 


41 


bi 


XI ShU 


^ g-ha 


3. 


ra 


n 


1 


rrt u 


A. 


bu 


^ ShU 


-ij cha 


4 % 


sa 


w 


Uji 


-8 * 


X 


bu 


4 u 


&n chche 


ZL 


sa 


3 


dju 


?L ,; 


■ 


•b'hi 


J, 1. 


a dja 


$ 


ha 


*. 


dju 


afl ra 


arflj 




^ bu 



13 



Class III.] 




ALPHABETS. 




[Indo-Ettbopean. 


MAHRATTA. 






TAMUL. 






<35 a 


£ t'ha 


■aj 


a 


Lp rla =2f(5?5tfT 


nei 


Wl lu 


sn i 


3 da 


■3* 


a 


0(5T na 


rf 


ti 


S^PJT lu 


tff t 


g" d'ha 


© 


i 






ti 
tu 


t&GO lai 
& vi 


tf* » 


XJJ na 


=2. 


i 
u 


^ej i» 


&F 


tu 


^ vi 




•J ta 




_ 


B^_ta 


[5 


ni 


=2J TO 


■£j^3 u, u 




t^/OVT 


u 












%f t'ha 


CT" 


e, e 


S?ni 


[5 


ni 


€t ™ 


3%T r 


T3 da 


6Zj 


ei 


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, 






14 









Class 


i III.] 






ALPHABETS. 


^Inbo-Extkopeak. 




TELI NC A. 


© 


a 


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rf 


va 


-£) chi 


2? ddu 


a* 


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& 


a 


W chcha, tsha 


i 


sa 


xM on u 


2^ dd'ha 





ri 


s? 


i 


So dja, dza 




sha 


^2) c^e 


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& 


ri 


s* 


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? 


sa 


033" 8 djha 
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3S 


ru 


45 


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ha 


Q3S* djhi 


|> ni 


00 


1 


(JO 


a 


tf t'ha 


r 


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OS>P djhu 
1 


|) nT 
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note 


ru 




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'UiT' 


ru 


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pause 


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SS d'ha 
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gau 


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sha 








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«& ha 


OST 

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ka 


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15 



Class III.] 



ALPHABETS. 



[Indo-Eitropeats. 



KARNATA. 



© a 



<y 


a 


s? 


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■m 


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ta 


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<ra 


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t'ha 


tS 


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duplication 



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Jrigutes. 


1 2 3 4 E 


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17 



Class III. J 






ALPHABETS. 


P 


NDO-EtJROPEAN. 




C 


INGALESE. 


MALDIVIAN. 








Eigatures. 


©ll( iForm. 


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qe a 


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18 



ClASS III. 


] 






ALPHABETS. 




[Ikdo- 


European. 


IRISH. 


NKESO-GOTHIC. 


ANGLO-SAXON. 


ENCLISH. 


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19 



Class III.] 




ALPHABETS. 


[Indo- 


EUROPEAN. 




GERMAN. 




J OLD ENGLISH. 


GREEK. 


1 


(Sutenberg. 




Common. 




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3 an, am 


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Ip quod 
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20 



Class III.l 



ALPHABETS. 



[Indo-European. 



ALBANIAN. 




RUSSI 


AN, SERVIAN 


AND WALLACH1AN. 


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i. 




$0. 2. 




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i 


8 


X 


f ndsch 


no 


P 


'B 1) dsh 


Ilu 


P 


S£ dsh 


19 « 


B 


4 


r 


5 st 














19-5 


ss 


/ 


rr 


ft sch 


p P 


r 


IJ 1^ ddsh 


Pp 


r 


j^Z {< ddsh 


H 


t 


6 


f 


J 3 


Cc 


s 


Us u 


Cc 


s 


& S u 


TSt*. 


f 




















J)» 


Cll 


k . 


}' 


ft scht 
V te 


Tt 


t 


IS 15 iu 


Tm 


t 


J3"fiST iu 




z 
tz 


£ 


m 


tt nj 


yy 


u 


Si /^ ia 


yy 


u 


ifi rh ia 


tzj 


3 


J 


V- as 


CD* 


f 


•f^* un 


<P$ 


f 


•Jl ^l un 


8f» 

! 


z 


h 


gh 


^> 01 


Xx 


Cll 


IA ia ia 


X x 


en 


M ia ia 














131 











Class 111. J 



ALPHABET S. 



[Indo-Eukopean. 




Class IV.; 








ALPHABETS 




[Ugro-Tartarian. 


MANTCHOU. 


MONGOLIAN 


■ 


*. * 


H 


-i 


a 


j> o o - * 


1 


^ 




a 

1 


J t 


H- 


J 


c 


*> O -> Jj 8 


4 


M 


«-J 


e 


i * 


xl 


6 


i 


O" -^>« ->> - kh 


A 


^ 


^> 


i 


i i 


4 





■ eL * ^ r 


I 


d 


<*> 









«> 




<r <r h* - f 










$ £ 


d> 


* 


u 


I 


d 


<£> 


u 






2>» 




4 <1 A - w 








J * 


4 


J 





>l » X - ts 


I 


d 


<!> 





ir 


4 


^ 


an 


i*- » > - ths 


i 


d 


<*> 


u 


aL - 


• H 


4^ 


n 


y V sh (soft) 


' H 


^^ 




*. * 


1 


^ 


k 


5* ^ - - ss 


S> 


^> 


1 


n 
b 


£t. 


V 


- 


"g 


U» l*» -- - tshh 


-? 


1 


kh 


-£. * 


> 


- 


kh 


1 i> - - dsh'h 


* 2 


:1 




gh 


» 3> 


$ 


j> 


b (soft) 




o 


o 


^ 


k 




3 9 


$ 


- 


"P 


SLtgatareg. 






H 




■t * 


> 


j- 


E 


«> «>*>*» bi 


o 


o 


- 


g 






-t 




© 5> $ fl> "o 


-h 


+1 


^5 


m 


*.* 


^ 


X. 


sch 


8)' ©' $. &> to 


-P 


-P 


-P 


1 


4* 


A 


i. 


t 


J> J> jj> © bo, 


-pi 


J* 


^ 


r 


1* 


A 


- 


d 


5" 9 $ ^ pi 


♦ 


-tfl 


1^ 


t 


iL * 


A 


- 


t 


& S> 1> 2 ki 


♦ 


^1 


i^ 
^ 


d 


4. f. 


<r1> 


- 


d 


^ "3> <> -£> ku 








<. '" 


-P 


a 


i 


j^ ^ $ j^me 


*1 


•1 




hi 

s, ds 


i i" 


-h 


^2 


ra 


<b ii jf mi 


1» Bl 


u 


u 


_ 


ts 


1. u 


U 


- 


tsh 


^ gge 


c] 1 ffi0 


■P\ ' re 


> 


^ 


£ 


iS 


4. - 1 


H 




dsh 


^ gk 


£ mu 


* - 


*i 


=*5 




sch 


<d ^ 


y\ 




y 


Jl ma 


JJ ml 


fl* ye 


■fl 


<1 


— 


w 



23 



Class IV.] 



ALPHABETS. 



GEORGIAN. 



(mute) 



6 a 

s - 

3 ■ 

JO a 

a • 

3 w 

8 ■ 

t h 

CO th 
O i 



OQ am 

6& ar 

cflj as 

A ak 

& akh 

4 



ad 



IS 

12? 
I 6 

4 



ed 



eg 



en 



ep 



Ct&lL 



2? 

9 
6 

1 

L 



t 
eg „ 

^ wl 



a ■ 

~A sch 
^ tsch 



ekh 



f 

C|(0 wgh 

Op wkh 

crib ths 

aft tllkh 



Statutes. 



wl 



vlo 



ell, 

J 
# 

# 

3D 5 

I 6 
o* 

9- 



ikh 



ke 



ken 



kn 



ks 



kwa 



kwn 



3a 







% 

J 



ts 
dz 

ts 

dsh, dj 

kb 

kkta 

dsb 
h (mute) 



lib SS 

tnjjj ue 

emem ul 

WgO qd 



phe 

phw 
qa 



qwa 



qwn 



*»*£ a 

^3 » 

ss d 

Til e 

*!* *?(! w, v 

\ t z (soft) 

p h h (mute) 

Q 1 m th 

'n i 

^lj k 
T) *ru i 
5ti3 m 

Kfi ■ 

£) O i 

Oj 11J o 

"Ou p 

M If j (French) 
J» iJj r 



["Ugro-Tartarian. 

GMtstasttcal 



& uq 


u 


«M 


wi(u,ou) 


Ttp 


P'h 


+ «[i 


k 


flii 


gh 


Hn 


q 


9ij 


sh 


bfr 


tsh 


G.(i 


ts 


ffi A 


ds 


1» pi 


ths 


*e 


kh 


V V 


khh 


>P ?e 


I. (French) 


^TU 


h (mute) 


<R <fi 


ho 


s s 


tsh 


*^> 


p'h 



24 



Class IV. J 








ALPHABETS. 






[Ugro 


-Tartarian. 




JAPANESE.- 


-KATAKANA CHARACTER. 
















SLijjatureg. 


JDuublmg 
















JSigna. 


>f i 


'1 
9 J 




4" na 


>j- ke 


* " 










t) ro 


- ri 


?• 




1* 

T ge 


- 




"3 


in, i-i 


\ 


>\ fa 
X ba 


y. nu 

!■ ru 


7 


- ra 


7 * 


I. 

i 


■ mi 


r 


domo 


{ 






7" bu 


I 




2> 


tama 




J\° Pa 


i>" 
















— ni 


■=? wo 


A 


■ mn 


-7 ° 

7 p u 

3 ko 


i 




% 


tsudza 


<* 


*] 




^9 wa 


* 












f 


* 


-fo 


■h ka 


2, 




3* gO 




X 


tsumi 




* J 




4/ ga 


^" 




J2_ e or ye 






\ 




itf b0 


3 y° 


9. 


> u 


T" te 


*l- 


I 


umi 


jFfgutes- 


jfr° PO 


^ ta 


r 




/* de 


i?J 


i 


knri 


! J 


A ■ 




JT da 


=H 


► wi 


1; 




3i ye 




a l 2 




-fe 




> re 


/ no 


j\ 


> a 


1 


kumi 


"S? "1 






_i_ -* 




-e s u 






2. 3 




y so 


* 


■ 


$r sa 


\£ Pi 


1 


yami 


Cflitjuitctwjts 


^ J 


> 




.v* "> 


[- mo 

< J 






anti 




/] 




y 




? 








3foat»mjj 


-\o Pe 


■ zo 


J? ku 




■ za 


r 


mama 


Signs. 


f do 






f gu 


f 


ki 


J- se 
"fej 


I 


fumi 


1 * 


v> 


■ tsu 






_!_<» 






w T 


V] 




fc _* 




^ ya 


af g hi 


"E ze 
X su 


£ 


sazi 


_b 






O dzu 


T 




a- yu 










* 


- tsi 


•^ 






>~1 


„ 




ilgeto fn tfje 


4 . 




F 




< 


■ ma 


y " 




> zu 


} 


mina 


Hatujttage. 




f 


■ ne 


"2 




* 


■ me 


:> 








:£•* dzi 


* - 




^? . 




* . 




\ 


mia 


7° tn 



25 



Class IV.] 








ALPHABETS. 






[Ugko 


-Tartarian. 


JAPANESE. -FIROKANA CHARACTER. 


(T> -| 




^ 




i " 




&' 




?- 




t' 




& 




(A 




^ 




$ 




fe 




6* - 


ga 


I 




fa 






i 






t ■ 


to 


jfc. 


nu 






K ■ 


so 




ne 


(4 










4 




# ► yo 


%" 




o 
* 
b 






ro 


ni 






I J 


ra 


*> 




£ 
* 
£- 


zo 




h^ 




A 




£• 


do 


**1 




«i : 




<> ~ 




%l 








3, 




£• 

? 








fe 

* 




ft 




3r 




t 
I . 
f> 






■ fo 




> tsi 


to 




* or 


* 


> ta 






9 

% 

% 


■ na 


t 


■ fa 


fy 






& 


WO 


^ 




ft 


- tsu 


% 




h 
A 




Y - 

7<? 




» dzi 










A 

^ 
^ 
^ 








t 




% 


- 1)0 


3- 




H 




^1 v"- 


> da 
1 




y 




£ 




*?■ 




Jr 




fc- 




h J 


«, 




& 




ft . 




-*> 


" 


t 




(J J- wa 

e J 


ft' 




4>. 




to 




Yf 


' 




. fe 







J 




fe 




*> 

u 


- ra 


K 

/l 








9 


-ri 


$ 


- 


k 


• re 


* 




> 

\ 






. ba 




*| 


6 






4 
* 


• ka 


& 




&, 

^ 


- dzu 








/$■ 


» be 







iP 




A 




/^ 




}> 




5 


J 


i 


- 1 


t 


J 


<$> 


J 


& 




h* 




\ 


. 



26 



Class 


IV.] 








ALPHABETS. 






[Ugro-Taktarian. 


JAPANESE.- FIROKAN A CHARACTER. 


{1} }■ mu 


4D 




£ ~ 




«? ~ 




S>' 




&r 




*- 






> ya 












- me 


ft 




* 






*> 




t 




a 


> sa 




t> 


- fi 


$ 




^1 

5 


u 

- or 

wu 


t 




t 

t 


• ko 


2 
5 

3 - 

£" 




4 

ij 


■ mi 






T 


■ su 


b - 

to 1 

v6 




£ 




tf" 




£• 






tK 


> bi 


t 






* 


> ma 


2 


> go 


^ 
^ 

^.* 


> za 






2A W _ 




ft 




-4> 


■ wi 


1 




& 




£* J 


I 


> si 


9 




6 




<fo - 




% 




frj 




^1 




i 




D 






»1 




£ - 




*£'] 




H 




i j 









J- 




C7> 

<7> 


>■ no 


0*1 

or 


. ke 




> te 




. ki 




• zi 


h 

A 

t 


- mo 


f 








0-j 
4* 




4^ 




1, 

¥1 








% - 




t. 

r 


■ zu 


S i 




Gf 


■ ghe 


^ 




£ 




*i 




■£ 




I-- 




< 


• ku 


If J 




4r 


> de 


^ 

r. 


■ giii 


4 




t 


■ se 


ft* 








•fu 


t- 




$> " 




A 


• ye 






f j 




< - 








*>- 








X 




1^ 1 


A- " 






*- 


■ 


i& 




i© 




t 




Li 




* 




.4T 


■ gn 




- bu 




■ a 


-0 


- yu 


t 




^ 

€ 


- ze 


A. 

/C j 


.„ 


£_ 




.*- 




*\ 




4)- 




k. 




€^j 




O point 



Class IV.] 



ALPHABETS. 



[Ugro-Tabtaeian. 



6 


rosi 


ML fasi 


|^ basi 


]X nisi 


r 


• fosi 


fc. 





£ 
H 



bosi 



do si 



rubesi 



JAPANESE. -F.IROKANA CHARACTER. 



/£• kan 

Jb kajesi 



kavasi 



to kasito 

T 
ft 1 



gasi 



£ 
tf 



yosi 



tasi 



dasi 



• resi 



"2. tsudzu 



15 



SLtgatutes. 

Ill 



• dausi 



* < 






ft 



11 



L 



IT 
1 



f 

li 



kusi 



kuzi 



kuru 



gusi 



» 



J 



& 

|i^ bUEi 



fuzi 



doubling Signs. 
< 4 <* 



kosi 



r 

- koto 

I 

I 

) 

r 

i\ 

a? a 

|4? asi 

^\ sa 

1;5 sasi 
13 sazi 
||* zasi 
||r kisi 

? 



IS 

1 



4 



II 



S1WO 



simo 



yezi 



bisi 



-j\ mo 

ra, mos 

]y zusi 

^ nsi 

VC- nzi 



* $ 



28 



Class IV.] 



ALPHABETS. 



[Ugro-Tabtakian. 



itsi 



lye 



As ima 






1 



^ inu 

roku 



v\ 






fana 



■fe- 
-#> 
/)w fast 



- fawa 



fatsiziu 



tan 



A 
A 



JAPANESE.- FiROKANA CHARACTER. 



|] mtsi 



fei 



• be 






to 



• tori 



- tosi 



* 

£[L, tokoro 

% do 

jfij tsi 






tsitsi 



tsiu 



% j 
# 
ft J 

■dp 



Chinese Signs. 

lif kage 



wotoko 






% 



waka 



ka 



kadzi 



kado 



n 
in 

)'] 



kawa 



f kadzu- 
\ mura 



* 



itt 
ft 



% 



kane 



yo 



yon 



yosai 



yotsu 



taro 



tara 



taina 



n 

£ i 

ft i 

*> j 
$1 



tamon 



tamai 



tai 



dai 



dan 



tatsi 






tsuki 



G«3 nan 

^" muro 

$1 utsi 

JL uye 



* 



ugenda 



no-yama 



no-tsikai 



ku 



kuni 



kuru 



A- 

k 



y» 



29 



Class IV.] 



ALPHABETS. 



[Ugro-Tartabian. 



% 

% J 



yama 



mata 



mato 






- matsi 



matsu 



fu 



futa 



JAPANESE. -FIROKANA CHARACTER. 



bu 



ko 



% 
)h 

y 

^ kome 



kokoro 



kono 



■ koto 



ffi&uusfe Signs. 



A 



^ goto 



gorosai 



i 
i. 



te 



tei 



^F ten 
% aki 

% J 



Mfy saka 



<? 



sakitsi 



sai-gio 



% 






kits! 



15 

% kiu 

ID 



a 






midzu 



fe / mid- 
f? \ zum; 



E9 J 

-fc 
i: 



25 , r simano- 
£ \ sake 



sitsi 



i 
+ 



yemon 



B 

* 



flto 



fiaku 



fiaknrio 



"1* mosi 

5 moto 

j£ moku 

3" 



* 



. Buke 



30 



Class V., VI.] 



ALPHABETS. 



[Polynesian and African. 



MALAYAN. 


COPTIC. 


A 'a 




Th Hi 


i» 


A a 


a 


Pp r 


B 


a 
b,v 


A a 


\ 


Tl tl 


Jo 


Bb 


b,v 


Cc s 


r 


g 


'I 'i 
U u 


I 
1 


En 
Gh gh 




Tr 
Aa 


g 

d 


Tt t,d 

t t l, 


A 

e 


d 
e 
z 


B b 


i-j 




6e 


e 


4> 4> ph 


H 


i,e 






Ng Tg 


e 


^Z 


z 


•A/ OC ch, so 


e 


th 


T t 


O 












I 






P f 


<-> 


Hh 


'> e \|/ \j/ ps 


K 


1 

k 


Tz to 


w 


PP 


3 


0e 


th 


00 oo o 


* 


1 


DJ % 
TJ tj 


£ 
& 


Kh kh 


J 


li 
Kk 


i 

k 


q q f 
£x g 


u 


m 

n 






Kk 


J/ 


AA 


1 




o 





HI Hi 


t 










Z & h 










Gg 


j/ 


Mm 


m 


n 


p,b 


Ch ch 


c 








bh i.h 


P 


r 






L 1 


j 


M N 


n 




c 


3 


D d 


3 








(5" 6" sh, sch 














Zz 


X 




T 


t, d 






M m 












, 


Dz dz 


j 




r 


Oo 





G) 0) sh 


T 


i,y 
P h 


R r 


J 


N n 


c> 


nn 


Pi b 


tt ti 


X 


ch, sc 


Z z 


. 


U W 










+ 


ps 


y* 


























u; 











j 




Slccents. 






S sf 


a* 


d W j 






a 


NN en 




f 
g 


sj fj 


J^ 


H h 


a 


6p 

I 


e 
i 


6 o 


a- 


sh, gh 
sh 


Tftstf 


u° 


Ijij 


eS 


\ 


i 


P 0) er 


2 


h 


D] dl 


J* 


NJ nj 


C> 


H M 


em 


db o 




Mi 
ti 



31 



ALPHABETS. 



[Polynesian ok Malayan. 







JAVANESE. 






Sj> a 


(CTi ta 






Higatureg. 






(Wl sa 


jn ha 


£l 


dya 


OJUl" 




<J1 re 


a a i 
















■3 
i 


O va 


O na 


«, 


ta 


J 


■ ya 


j3 re 


£>. 


0OJ1 la 


dl> nu 


a) 


tu 


dL 




(CI na 






{jb- cha 










^ <K| e 


O Pa 


Cfe chu 


_sk 


sa 


cj " 


4k cha 


O e 


(13) da 




03 


su 




(^ ta 




OS ja 


^ ru 





va 


jJ| na 


~& P a 


O M— 2 o 


0JU1 ya 


TH " 







vu 


J nU 


C^. en 


«-. n 


OUl na 


L 


■ ra 


(JO, 


la 


Q ma 


Jl 


5 h 


(£1) ma 


Vo - 




003 


lu 


>• mn 


\. 




OflTI ga 








oJ 




(UUl ha 


(Oil ba 


1 r- 


~n 


pa 


ann ga 


^ 


(Kl na 


Q£l ta 


(KL, ka 


CO 


da 


OJJ g« 


1 


00) cha 


O na 


KM ku 


CJ 


- du 


CO Da 


^ 


tti ra 




^ da 


(J ., 




Q)"| 




Ml ka 


O re 


^) du 


<S 


a 


Ibu 

CC*J 


m>- 


(1X1 da 


3 " 


V£ ** 


<§, 


ju 


6) ta 


m 


(Capita 1 


[ letters, 




ARABIC LETTERS. 




cinnn na 

(KV ka 


03* pa 
OK na 


Ml 




> i_J K j 


ann £_ 












' 






Jigureg. 




djl ta 












am. "1 


ion ga 


am *3- 


a 


6 S) c arm 


«3v OJUl 


a* -" 


"3K ha 


1 2 


3 


4 5 6 7 


8 9 



32 



ALPHABETICAL LIST OE MEMOIRS. 





PAGE 




PAGE 




PAGE 




PAGE 


Abenaqtti 


455 


Bima . 


372 


JDaco-Kojian a or Wal- 




German .... 


181 


Accra 


415 


Bohemian . 


. 300 


lachian 


279 


Ghadamsi . . - . 


405 


Adiyah or Fernandian 


420 


Bosnian . 


306 


Dacota or Sioux 


463 


Gheez or Ethiopic . 


57 


Affghan or Pushtoo . . 


72 


Brazilian and Guarani 


. 472 




371 


Gipsy or Eommany . 


130 


African or Moorish Arabic 




Breton or Armorican . 


170 


Dalmatian-Servian or 




Gothic .... 


174 


or Mogrebin . 


55 


Bruj or Brij-bhasa . 


. 104 


Croatian 


304 




414 


Aimara .... 


471 


Bughelcundee 


105 


Danish .... 


217 


Greek, Ancient 


227 


Albanian .... 


289 


Bugis and Macassar . 


. 374 


Delaware 


447 


Modern . 


241 


Alemannic or Old High 




Bulgarian 


307 


Dialect, Negro, of Curacao 


270 


Greenlandish . 


441 


German 


178 


Bullom 


. 409 


Negro, of Surinam 


212 


Guarani and Brazilian 


472 


.Aleutian or Aliout-Liseyeff 358 


Bulochee or Beloochee . 


74 


Dialects, Bengalee 


114 


Gujerattee . . . 


123 


Amharic .... 


61 


Bundelcundee . 


. 105 


Cognate, Siamese 


14 


Gurwhal or Schreenagur . 


123 


Anamite .... 


15 


Buriat . 


339 


Hinduwee . 


103 






Ancient Armenian 


75 


Burmese 


. 7 


India, Central 


106 


JtlABEOTEE . 


106 


Greek . 


227 


Buttaneer or Virat 


108 


Dogura or Jumboo . 


120 


Haussa . 


412 


Aneiteum 


392 






Dorpat Esthonian . 


329 


Hawaiian 


375 


Anglo Saxon 


191 


L'ATFKE or Kaffir 


. 426 


Dualla or Dewalla 


418 


Hebrew — Old Testament . 


22 


Arabic .... 


48 


Calmuc .... 


338 


Dutch .... 


208 


New Testament 


29 


Moorish or Africar 


l, 


Cambojan . 


. 15 


JcjifaHADiNE, Upper and 




Memoir descrip- 




or Mogrebin . 


55 


Canarese or Karnata 


141 




tive of 


31 


Arakanese or Eukheng . 


10 


Canoj or Canyacubja 


. 104 


Lower, or Eomanese . 


287 


Hindustani or "Urdu 


94 


Ararat, Armenian 


79 


Carib or Karif 


473 


English .... 


196 


Hinduwee . 


100 


Arawack .... 


474 


Carniolan . 


. 305 


Escuara or Spanish Basque 318 


Dialects 


103 


Armenian, Ancient . 


75 


Carshun .... 


56 


Esquimaux 


438 


Hungarian or Magyar 


325 


Ararat . 


79 


Cashmerian 


. 120 


Esthonian, Dorpat . 


329 


Wendish 


310 


Modern . 


80 


Catalan or Catalonian . 


265 


Beval . 


330 


Hurriana , , 


105 


Armorican or Breton . 


170 


Catchee or Cutchee . 


. 117 


Ethiopic or Gheez . 


57 






Ashantee or Odjii 


417 


Central India Dialects . 


106 






.Icelandic or Norse . 


214 


Assamese 


115 


Cbaldee 


. 39 


Ju AfTTEE .... 


416 


India, Central, Dialects of 


106 


Australian, New S. Wales 


395 


Cherokee 


459 


Earoese 


226 


Indian, New England . 


444 


Aztec or Mexican . 


465 


Chinese 


1 


Feejeean .... 


390 


Indo-Portuguese 


275 


-Dashmfhic 




Chippeway or Ojibway . 


450 


Fernandian or Adiyah 


420 


Iowa .... 


464 


402 


Chocktaw . 


. 461 


Finnish . 


319 




160 


Basque, French 


314 


Cingalese 


147 


Flemish .... 


205 


Isubu .... 


419 


Spanish or Escuara 318 






French .... 


254 


Italian .... 


277 


Bassa 


414 


Corean .... 


359 


Basque 


314 








373 


Cornish 


. 169 


Formosan 


368 


Jallooe . . • . 


407 


Beloochee or Bulochee . 


74 




448 






Japanese .... 


356 


Bengalee .... 


109 


Creolese 


. 211 


(jTAELIC .... 


158 


Javanese .... 


369 


Dialects . 


114 


Croatian or Dalmatian- 




Galla .... 


432 


Jewish-German . 


186 


Berber .... 


403 


Servian . . 


304 


Georgian .... 


353 


Judseo-Arabic 


52 


Bhojepoora 


104 


Curacao Negro Dialect 


. 270 


German, Old High, or 




Judeeo-Persian . 


71 


Bikaneera . 


108 


Cutchee or Catchee 


117 


Alemannic 


178 


Judeo-Polish . 


188 



ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMOIRS. 



PAGE 

Judeo-Spanish . . . 267 
Jumboo or Dogura . 120 
Juyapoora .... 108 

.Kaffir or Caffre . 426 
Karaite-Tartar . . . 350 
Karass or Turkish-Tartar 347 
Karelian . . . .328 
Karen, Karayn, or Karieng 15 
Karif or Carib . . .473 
Karnata or Canarese . 141 
Kliaspoora or Nepalese . 121 
Khassee .... 17 
Kikamba .... 435 
Kinika .... 435 
Kisuaheli . . . .434 
Kousulu or Koshala . 104 
Kumaon . . , , 123 
Kunkuna ... 129 
Kurdish . . 82 

JLaos or Law . . 14 

Lapponese .... 322 

Latin .... 245 

Lepcba .... 21 

Lettish or Livonian . 310 

Lifu and Nengone . . 394 

Lithuanian . . . 312 

Looehooan .... 357 

Low Malay ... 366 

JMacassab and Bugis . 374 
Magadha or Magudha . 114 
Magyar or Hungarian . 325 
Mahratta or Marathi . 126 
Malagasse . . . .386 
Malay, Low ... 366 
Malayalim .... 145 
Malayan .... 360 
Maldivian . . . .150 
Maltese .... 53 
Mandingo . . . .406 
Manks .... 166 
Mantchou .... 334 
Maori or New Zealand . 383 
Marathi or Mahratta . 126 
Marquesan ... 380 
Marwar .... 107 
Massachusett . . . 445 
Mayan . . . .468 



Mexican or Aztec . 
Micmac 
Misteco . 
Mithili or Tirhitiya 
Modern Armenian . 

* Greek . 

Syriao 

Mohawk 

Mohegan 

Mon, Talain, or Peguese 

Mongolian Proper . 

Mogrebin, or African or 

Moorish Arabic . 
Mordvinian or Morduin 
Mosquito . 

Moultan, Wuch, or Ooch 
Mpongwe . 
Munipoora 



XI AMAQUA . . . 

Nengone or Lifu . 
Nepalese or Khaspoora 
Negro Dialect of Curacoa 

Dialect of Surinam 

New England Indian . 
New S. Wales Australian 
New Zealand or Maori . 
Norse or Icelandic . 
Norwegian Laplandish 
or Quanian 

Odjii or Ashantee . 
Ojibway or Chippeway . 
Old Saxon .... 
Olonetzian 
Oodeypoora 

Oojein or Oujjuyunee . 
Orenburg-Tartar , 
Orissa or TJriya 
Ossitinian .... 
Ostiacan or Ostjakian . 

Otomi 

Ottawa .... 
Oujjuyunee or Oojein 



Pali .... 

Palpa .... 
Pawnee .... 
Peguese, Talain, or Mon 
Persian .... 



PAGE 

465 
454 
467 
114. 

80 
241 

45 
456 
444 

11 
337 

55 
331 
469 
118 
421 

16 

430 
394 
121 
270 
212 
444 
395 
383 
214 

324 

417 
453 
189 
328 
107 
107 
349 
116 
84 
332 
467 
453 
107 

91 
122 
464 

11 

64 



PAGE 

Peruvian or Quichua . 470 

Piedmontese . . . 286 

Polish 298 

Portuguese ... 271 

Pottawattomie . . . 454 

Provencal or Roraaunt . 281 

Punjabee or Sikh . . 118 

Pushtoo or Affghan . 72 

vJuanian or Norwegian 

Laplandish . . . 324 
Quichua or Peruvian . 470 

XVAEOTONGAN . . .378 

Keval Esthonian . . 330 

Romaunt or Provencal . 281 
Romanese or Upper and 

Lower Enghadine . 287 

Rommany or Gipsy . . 130 

Rukheng or Arakanese . 10 

Russian .... 295 

OAHIDIC .... 401 
Samaritan .... 35 
Samoan . . . . 388 
Samogitian . . . . 313 
Samoiede . . . 355 
Sanscrit . . . .86 
Saxon, Anglo ... 191 

Old . . . . 189 

Schreenagur or Gurwhal 123 
Sclavonic . . . .291 
Sechuana . . . 423 

Seneca 458 

Servian .... 302 
Sesuto or Sisuta , . . 425 
Shawanoe . . . 454 
Shekawutty . . .108 
Sherbro-Bullom . . 410 
Siamese .... 12 

Cognate Dialects 14 

Sikh or Punjabee . .118 
Sioux or Dacota . . 463 
Sindee . . . .117 
Sirenian or Zirian . . 332 
Sisuta or Sesuto . . 425 
Slovakian 306 

Spanish . . . -261 

Basque or Escuara 318 

Surinam, Negro Dialect of 212 



PAGE 

Susoo .... 408 
Swedish .... 222 
Syriac .... 41 

in Hebrew characters 45 

Modern . . 45 

Syro-Chaldaic ... 43 

Iahitian ... 376 
Talain, Mon, or Peguese . 11 
Tamul or Tamil . . 133 
Telinga or Teloogoo . . 138 
Terasco .... 467 
Tibetan .... 20 
Tigre .... 61 
Timmanee . . . .413 
Tirhitiya or Mithili . 114 
Tongan . . . .381 
Toulouse ... 283 
Trans-Caucasian Tartar . 352 
Tscheremissian . . 331 
Tschuwaschian . . . 351 
TuluorTuluvu . . 144 
Tungusian Proper . . 336 
Turco-Greek and Turkish- 
Armenian . . 345 
Turkish . . . .341 
Tartar or Karass 317 

U ppee and Lower Engha- 
dine or Romanese . 287 
Upper and Lower Wendish 308 
Urdu or Hindustani . . 94 
Uriya or Orissa . . 116 

V AUDOIS . . . .284 
Virat or Buttaneer . 108 
Yirginian .... 444 

y\ ailachian or Daco- 

Romana . . . 279 

Welsh 151 

Wendish, Hungarian . 310 

Upper and Lower 308 

Wogulian . . . 332 

Wotagian or Wotjakian . 333 

Wuch, Ooch, or Moidtan 118 

Y arriba or Yoruba . 411 



^APOTECA 

Zirian or Sirenian 



467 
. 332 



®|)c &\bk of QEocrg Can*. 



CLASS L— MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES 
CLASS II.— SHEMITIC LANGUAGES .... 
CLASS III.— INDO-EUKOPEAN LANGUAGES . 
CLASS IV— UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES . 
CLASS V.— POLYNESIAN OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES 
CLASS VI.— AFRICAN LANGUAGES .... 
CLASS VII.— AMERICAN LANGUAGES . ■ ■ . 



1-21 
22-63 
64-313 
314-359 
360-396 
397-437 
438-475 



THE BIBLE OF EYERY LAND. 



CLASS I -MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES, 



CHINESE. 



SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 13* 



$1 # s& 

m, z % 

ifc M Z 

ft jus. m 

a &t m 

n % z 

a * ?\ 

s* ^ in 

•ffi. ft H 

ft rfif 



J£± ft 

Hi * 

m * 

M ^: 
A ^ 

Z fi 



ffi 7fe v 

£ BE 
A ft 

^ + 7b 



:5V PJIB 

% z 

BE ^ 

k m 

m « 

» z 

* A 

Z % 



A # M 



# 



Z £ ra #> 

** ft A 

* f $ 

m & # 

s r % 

T K ft 

HI 3t ^ 

w £ a 

Hf A Z 

* 75 BS 



3k M — 

*^f» •=? » -w. 



& 



/p TO 

Z Hj 



I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT, AND STATISTICS. 

The Chinese empire, called "the land of Sinim" (Isaiah xlix. 10), — the land of the Chinas 
(Manu x. 84), — and Chin or Machin, in Persian writers, includes within its area about a third of the 
Asiatic continent, and occupies little less than one- tenth part of the whole habitable globe. China proper, 
in which alone the Chinese language is vernacular, comprises eighteen provinces, each of which is equal 
in extent and population to some European kingdoms ; it forms about a fourth part of the entire region 
generally regarded as tributary to the Chinese emperor, and contains an area of not less than 1,297,000 

* From Dr. Morrison's Translation, issued in 1823, by the Anglo-Chinese College, in twenty-one Volumes. 





2 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. 

square miles. According to the official documents furnished by the census taken in 1813, the popu- 
lation of China proper amounted at that time to upwards of 360,000,000, — or more than a third 
part of the estimated number of the entire human race ! And astounding as such a computation 
may appear, there seems no sufficient reason to doubt its correctness, or to question the proba- 
bility of a considerable increase having taken place during the period since elapsed. Indeed, persons 
whose local experience has given them the best means of observation, uniformly concur in regard- 
ing the above number as underrated rather than the reverse. 1 Thousands annually migrate from 
China to the shores of the Indian Archipelago ; and Mr. Crawfurd, the late resident at Singapore, 
estimated the number of Chinese dispersed throughout the Philippines, Borneo, Java, Singapore, 
Malacca, Penang, Siam, Tonquin, and adjacent districts, at 734,700. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The language used by this vast population exhibits certain affinities with some of the idioms 
of Central Asia ; while it is distinguished by some remarkable characteristics of its own. 

The first great peculiarity is the remarkable fact, that in the written language of China the words 
or characters are not, as with ourselves, representatives of spoken sounds, but symbols of abstract ideas. 
It contains no alphabetical letters in our sense of the term ; and every written character is an entire 
word, with a uniform meaning in all parts of the empire, independent of its conventional sound in the 
various local dialects. This constitutes a great difficulty in the acquisition of the language ; not, 
however, to the extent that has been generally supposed. It is true that in the standard national 
Lexicon, published by command of the emperor Kang-he in the seventeenth century of the Christian 
era, there are found as many as 44,449 distinct characters. According to the Tseu'-wei of Me'i-tan, 
their number is only 33,000; and in the Pin-tsee-tsien, 20,000. Most of these, however, are either 
obsolete, or of very rare occurrence ; so that in the penal code of China, translated by Sir George 
Staunton, and in the Chinese A 7 ersion of the New Testament, the result of a careful collation has 
proved that there are only about 3000 characters in very general use. For practical purposes, that 
number even may be reduced to about 2,200. 

The Chinese characters have been sometimes compared to the hieroglyphics of Egypt. The 
resemblance, however, is not complete ; as Chinese writing was never confined to a priestly caste, and 
is, moreover, a more artificial and ingenious system of ideographic combinations. There are 214 original 
characters or roots, into some of which every one of these 44,449 characters may be resolved by the 
process of dissection or analysis, and which form the foundation of the meaning as well as the basis 
of the lexicographic arrangement of each compound character. 

The written symbols of the Chinese may be divided into six classes. The Jirst class, called 
seang-hing, or " images," comprehends those which appear to have been originally mere rude pic- 
torial representations of visible objects, although in process of time the original resemblance has been 
almost lost ; as e. g. the symbols for a field fjj , a man A , a horse S| f a s ] ie ep ipl , etc. 

The second class contains the characters called hwei-ee, or of " complex meaning," which represent 
a combination of simple ideas; e.g. 0'^)' "the sun;" and g (j/ue), "the .moon," written 

together thus, Hfj, read " ming" and mean, " light, brilliancy." 

The third class contains the characters called che-sze, or "indicating the thing;" e.g. _1_, for 
"above;" ~" T~, for "below;" now written, h (shang), and ~T\ (liea). 

1 It ha3 often been said that the population of China is relatively as dense as (or denser than) that of England. 
According to the census of 1851, the population of England and Wales amounted to 17,920,569, equal to an average 
of 310 inhabitants to the square mile, while the population of England (without Wales) averaged 335 inhabitants to die 
square mile. The former ratio, applied to China, would be equivalent to a total of more than four hundred millions, 
and the latter to upwards of four hundred and thirty-four millions, of inhabitants. This consideration may serve to 
diminish the surprise, almost the doubt, with which the statements regarding the enormous population of China 
have sometimes been received. 



Class I.] CHINESE. 3 

The fourth class is but small. It contains the characters called chwan-chu, or " inverted;" as A 
(jin), " a man" (standing); p? (die), "a man" (lying down) " a corpse." 

The fifth class contains the characters called kea-tsiei, or " borrowed ;" i. e. conveying an abstract 
idea borrowed from the object they represent; e.g. j^> (sin), "the heart," is sometimes put for 
"mind," " to understand," etc. 

The sixth class contains the characters called hing-shing, or " representing the sound," which are 
very numerous. These characters are partly representative, and partly syllabic, or phonetic. One 
element in the character, viz., the image, determines the meaning and fixes the genus ; the other 
element, for the most part a group of strokes Avithout any actual meaning, indicates the sound, and 
marks the species. Thus, e. g. Jh , which represents " a place," answers to the Chinese word le ; 
joined to the character ^ (yu), "fish," it forms the symbol 1g]P, the name of the fish, le, "a carp." 
In addition to the characters of those six classes, there are others, found especially in local dialects, which 
appear to be formed arbitrarily, without respect to any system of classification. 

Among the 44,449 characters which form the Chinese language, there are about 1500 primitive 
characters in very common use, which we may imagine to have been the whole stock of symbols at a 
very early period of history, and which had not only a definite idea, but also a definite sound attached 
to each. As every character in Chinese is pronounced in speaking as a monosyllable, it would come 
to pass that their ideas, and the written characters by which they expressed those ideas, would increase 
far beyond what they would be able to pronounce by separate sounds amid the monosyllabic poverty 
of their spoken language. Many ideas would all be expressed in speaking by one and the same mono- 
syllabic sound. Instead of selecting an entirely new character, they would take some well-known 
character in general use, having the same sound; and by merely adding one of the 214 roots or simple 
elements to influence the meaning, they would form a new combination, the whole being in effect a 
new written symbol, of which one part influences the sound, and the other the sense. 

Let us take the example of ^|J le, profit. We may suppose this to have become one of the 
1500 primitive characters, having its definite sense and established pronunciation. There is another le 
in the spoken language, meaning a "pear-tree". Thus, by taking the character ^|J "profit," which has 
the sound of le, and adding the radical character yjr muh, "wood," they formed a new combination, 
2^J le, a " pear-tree", of which the upper part gives the sound, and the lower the sense. So again on 
the same principle, by combining the same primitive ^|J le, with the radical having the sense of 
"disease," a new character !]^jj is virtually formed pronounced le, but having the sense of "dysentery." So 
again for writing the word le having the sense of "hatred," they combine the same primitive ^|J with 
the radical bearing the meaning of "heart," the whole forming a new symbol y$J le, "hatred," of which 
the upper part gives the sound, and the lower influences the sense. And on the same principle, 
there are ten phonetic derivatives from the same primitive ^j] le, all having the same sound of le, 
but having different meanings according to the radical character with which le is combined. 

There are four or more different kinds of hand-writing, in which every character in the language 
may be written. The Chinese are great admirers of caligraphy, and place much value on a skilful 
handling of the pencil. 

Each symbol means a word, — implies a single idea, — and is not susceptible of declension, of con- 
jugation, of gender, or of number, according to the Latin form. This gives the Chinese language a 
sort of (to us) childish character, capable however of great beauties of a peculiar kind. This language 
has two principal styles. The ancient and classic style, called koo-wen, which is terse and energetic; 
for in it one word means many things, since it may be taken for a noun, an adjective, a verb, or even 
a particle. And the modern style, called hioan-hwa, or " mandarin tongue," which is written and 
spoken with some provincial difference, by educated men, from one end of the Chinese empire to the 
other. This, unlike the koo-wen, is diffuse and rather lax. For instance : icei tlieen tsung ming in 



MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. 
SPECIMEN OE CHINESE GEASS WEITING, 

THE LOED'S PEATEE, EEOM ADELTTNG's MITHEIDATES ; EEVISED. 



yao 



« 



kuai 



3, 



pu 



db jin 



ng6 



pel 



v^* hoe 



^ 



thsing 



:7cy 



ng& 



£C? ye 
V^i 



*fl 



sche 



A^ Jin 



kiQn 



sa 



yon 



^ yeii 
T& thsing 
Q& kifln 



^Z/l sche 

fe> mein 

&7 tschi 

?i¥i kuo 



YJJ7 thsing 
33 kifln 



13- ji 

$5 tseng 



-^ schi 






^ "go 



kiQn 



^ tang 

£"" 

7 thien 

tSP tM 



A 



tang 



X tschi 



■2P 



schin 



3* kiQn 



jj^ tsching 



^ ling 



tana 



[Class I. 

K Ngo 

^ tschi 
£fi kifln 

<£" 
•j±; tsai 
^g> tsing 
"7 thien 
•"Ip tsche 
.3? kifln 



hoo-iven, means that a clear intelligence belongs to heaven only. Those four words are explained in 
kwan-hwa, by sixteen, thirty-eight, or even a greater number of words. 

We will notice some of the peculiarities of the spoken language. The absence of an alphabet'has 
deprived the Chinese of an important means of preserving a uniformity of spoken language through 
every part of the empire. A native of China would be altogether unintelligible, speaking his local 
patois at a distance of 200 miles from his home ; and yet, like the Arabic figures of arithmetic in 
western countries, the written character is everywhere the same throughout the whole of China, though 
in reading and speaking the local pronunciation becomes in fact a separate language. Thus the symbols 
for twenty-two, though written the same, are spoken by a native of Peking urh-shih-urh, by a native of 
Ningpo gne-a-gne, by a native of Canton e-shap-e; in the same way as "twenty-two" would convey the 
same idea but have a different sound in each language of Europe. The dialect of the capital, com- 
monly called the mandarin or court dialect, is used as the medium of intercourse between the govern- 
ment officers and the literati in all parts of the country, to obviate the inconvenience of the local dialects. 

The greatest difficulty in acquiring the spoken language consists in the fact already men- 
tioned, the monosyllabic nature of Chinese words ; which causes a complicated system of tones, 
and redundancy in the colloquial style. There are 450 monosyllabic sounds of which the Chinese 
organs of speech are susceptible ; among those monosyllables, some are liable to the four principal 
accents ; others to three, two, or one accent only, whereby the number of syllables is brought to 
1203. According to P. Premare, p. 36, the original monosyllables are 487, and the modified syllables, 
1445 ; and these have to be divided among 44,449 written characters. But with all these contrivances 
of varied tone, a large number of ideas will be expressed by the same sound and the same tone. No 
difficulty is produced thereby in the written language, as each word is a different character, having a 
different visible form ; but great perplexity is frequently caused in speaking, and hence a redundant 
style is employed in conversation, which is altogether unnecessary, and is considered very inelegant in 
a written composition. A well-known Protestant Missionary, now labouring in China, has been heard 
to make a challenge that he could write a moral treatise in Chinese, of which each character would 
have only the sound of e, or Hi, or yih. The impossibility of understanding the meaning of such a 



Class I.] 



CHINESE. 



composition when read aloud to a person who has not the writing itself before him, will be apparent 
to every one, unless, in reading it aloud, an additional number of sounds are employed for each cha- 
racter to prevent confusion. Hence has arisen the practice of employing two or more monosyllabic 
sounds in speaking, where one would have been sufficient in writing. 

Thus the spoken language becomes in one sense no longer monosyllabic. This addition is made 
either by reduplication of the sound, by using two synonymous words, or by forming some other 
conventional compound. Thus, for instance, the character for father and that for axe are both pro- 
nounced foo. In speaking they employ foo-tsin (a father-relative), and foo-tow (an axe-head). 

When it is borne in mind that the Chinese aim at great brevity and conciseness in their written 
compositions, and that a breach of the rules of literary taste is a great offence in the estimate of Chinese 
scholars, it will easily be seen that it is impossible for a foreign student to place the Holy Scriptures 
before the minds of this civilised but benighted people in a style at once adapted to the taste of the 
educated, and suited to the understanding of all classes of the native population, without the assistance 
of learned natives. 



III. — VERSIONS OF THE SACKED SCRIPTURES, IN CHINESE. 

It has been related, though upon disputed authority, that in the Chinese province of Shen-se, 
in 1625, a curious monument was discovered, bearing inscriptions relative to a translation of the 
Sacred Scriptures into Chinese, supposed to have been executed at a very remote period. It 
would appear that in A. D. 637, Olopen, a Christian missionary, arrived in China, and succeeded 
in obtaining an interview with the Emperor : the result, it is said, was highly favourable, for the 
Emperor commanded Fam-hiuen-lim, the prime minister, one of the most learned of Chinese 
scholars, to translate the sacred books brought by Olopen. But if this edict was ever issued 
or executed, it is certain that not one of the copies of the version thus produced is now in 
existence. A few portions of the Sacred Scriptures appear to have been translated at various times 
by the Romish missionaries in China, but no successful efforts were made by them towards the produc- 
tion of an entire version. In 1806 a translation was commenced in Bengal under the superintendence 
of the Eev. David Brown, Provost of the College of Fort William ; he employed for this purpose 
Joannes Lassar, who was an Armenian Christian, but a native of China; and in 1807 a copy of S. Matthew 
in Chinese, translated and beautifully written by Lassar, was sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury for 
the Lambeth Library. In 1808 the Rev. D. Brown transmitted to the Secretary of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society the first sheet of this translation that had passed through the Chinese press. 
It had been printed from wooden blocks, cut by chintz pattern makers; but early in 1811 metal 
types were used in printing the Scriptures at Serampore, and this mode of printing Chinese is now 
generally adopted by our missionaries, in preference to the native method of printing from wooden 
blocks. The preparation of the version, from about the year 1808, was taken up by the Serampore 
missionaries : Dr. Marshman and his son, in conjunction with Lassar, completed and printed it at 
Serampore in 1822, under the liberal patronage of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Each 
sheet of this version was subjected, by the indefatigable translators, to an almost incredible number of 
revisions, and the whole was diligently conferred with Griesbach's text. Another version was made by 
Dr. Morrison, who about the year 1807 was sent to China by the London Missionary Society. Before 
his departure from England he had obtained some knowledge of the language, and in aid of his 
important undertaking he took with him the copy of a Chinese MS. belonging to the British Museum, 
and admirably executed by some unknown hand; it was apparently a translation from the Vulgate, and 
from the beauty of the style was judged to be the production of a native. 1 It was written by order of 
Mr. Hodgson, in 1737-8; he presented it, in 1739, to Sir Hans Sloane, through whom it came into 
the possession of the British Museum. It contained a condensed harmony of the Gospels, and likewise 

1 Mr. Callery (Systema Phon., p. 80) says that this version was written by the Jesuits, and incautiously made 
over to the English by J. Marchini, superintendent of the College of the Propaganda, at Rome. 



6 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. 

the Acts, and all the' Epistles of St. Paul, with the exception of that to the Hebrews, of which the first 
chapter only had been translated; when death, or some other cause, arrested the hand of the translator. 
Dr. Morrison says, concerning this MS., that in translating the New Testament, he, at the commence- 
ment, derived great assistance from the Epistles, but that afterwards they caused him much labour in 
verifying, and in effecting such alterations as his judgment suggested. In the translation of the Old 
Testament, Dr. Morrison made considerable use of Bishop Newcome's version of the twelve minor 
prophets, and of Lowth's Isaiah; he also referred continually to the original Scriptures, the Septuagint, 
Vulgate and French Versions : he never appears, however, to make any remarkable departure from 
the sense of the Authorised English version. Dr. Morrison after labouring alone for some years in China 
was provided with a valuable coadjutor in Dr. Milne, who was sent to aid in the work of translation, 
by the London Missionary Society. The historical books of the Old Testament, and the book of Job, 
were translated by Dr. Milne, and he died while employed in their revisal. The entire version was 
completed in 1823. 

At the anniversary of the Bible Society in 1824, Dr. Morrison presented the sacred volume at the 
meeting, and Mr. Butterworth related the following incident : — " It is now many years ago, that in visiting 
the library of the British Museum, I frequently saw a young man who appeared to be deeply occupied 
in his studies ; the book he was reading was in a language and character totally unknown to me. I 
asked the young man what it was; he replied modestly, The Chinese, and said, I am trying to understand 
it, but it is attended with singular difficulty ; if the language be capable of being surmounted by human 
zeal and perseverance, I mean to make the experiment. Little did I think," continued Mr. Butter- 
worth, " that I then beheld the germ, as it were, of that great undertaking, the translation of the Sacred 
Scriptures into the Chinese language." The production of this most important version, and of the 
numerous successive editions through which it has passed, is mainly if not entirely due, under Pro- 
vidence, to the generous aid of the British and Foreign Bible Society, who, from first to last, advanced 
more than ten thousand pounds in furtherance of the translation and circulation of the Chinese 
Scriptures. About the year 1836, a revised edition of the New Testament was produced by the joint 
labours of Messrs. Medhurst, Gutzlaff, Bridgman, and J. R. Morrison. But this work, although in 
idiomatic correctness a great improvement on preceding versions, was considered by competent 
authorities as loose and paraphrastic, and the work of translation was felt to be still incomplete. 

In 1843, the Protestant missionaries in China assembled in Hong-kong, and recorded their wish 
for a new version of the Scriptures in the Chinese language, better adapted for general circulation 
than any hitherto published. They recommended that the task of preparing such a version should 
be confided to a body of Delegates, and this proposal met with the fullest sanction and support at 
the hands of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The labours undertaken by the Delegates 
were commenced in 1847 ; the version of the New Testament was completed in 1850, and that 
of the Old Testament five years later. The "Delegates' Version" (as this edition of the Scriptures 
in China is generally called) is that now adopted by the Protestant missions, and an edition of 
50,000 has been printed at Shang-hae and Hong-kong, under the sanction of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society. 

IV. — INCREASED OPENINGS FOR THE DIFFUSION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

By the terms of the treaty of Nanking, concluded on the termination of the war between Great 
Britain and China in 1842, increased facility was gained for the work of Christian missionaries. 
Missionary labourers were allowed to reside in five important and populous cities, spread over 
1000 miles of coast, to which natives from the remote provinces of the empire continually resort. 
At each of those cities, except the city of Canton, to which foreign intercourse had been formerly 
limited, and where a strong an ti- European feeling had been excited by the insolent intolerance of the 
old system, the missionaries made visits of twenty or thirty miles into the surrounding country, and 



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Class I.] CHINESE. 7 

experienced a friendly reception from all classes of the native population. These openings for the 
introduction of Christian truth have been greatly extended by the course of subsequent events, in con- 
nection with the war which terminated in 1858. The treaty of Tien-tsin, concluded in that year be- 
tween China and the allied powers of Great Britain and France, provided for the opening of several 
additional ports, as well as for free intercourse with the interior on the part of English and French 
settlers, — missionary or otherwise. Notwithstanding the partial impediments which have arisen from 
the more recent renewal of hostilities, the openings thus made have not been neglected, and there is 
reason to expect the happiest results from the concessions which have been extorted from the govern- 
ment of China. Further insight into the customs and character of the people has proved that there is 
very little religious bigotry among the Chinese; that there is nothing like the system of Hindoo caste 
known in their civil institutions; and that their idolatrous priests do not (like the Hindoo Brahmins) 
exercise any influence on society, or possess any respect in the minds of the people. The state religion 
of Confucius is more a system of political ethics than of religious morals. The religion of the people 
is generally the more modern religion of Buddhism. In other words, a speculative atheism appears to 
be the belief of the sage, the statesman, and the scholar : idolatry, stripped indeed of Hindoo obscenity 
and blood, is the system received by the uneducated classes. 

Irreligious apathy, with godless indifference to every thing concerning a future life, appears to be 
the main characteristic of this people, and the principal obstacle to the success of Christian missions. 
Education is, however, greatly encouraged and patronised by the government, as the usual road to the 
honours and emoluments of the state. Books are everywhere in great requisition. The Holy Scrip- 
tures are in all parts received with avidity; and a desire of knowledge, and a spirit of curiosity and 
inquiry, are extensively prevalent among the people. Except the worship of the spirits of ancestors, 
there is no form of superstition universally and strongly enthroned in the affections of learned and 
unlearned. In spite of renewed hostilities with the Chinese government, and of the general apathy 
of the population at large, there are yet many indications which lead to the belief that with the in- 
crease of labourers, the increased diffusion of the Holy Scriptures, and more earnest prayer for the 
effusion of the Holy Spirit on the work, we shall in due time see Christian churches raised in China, 
and the gospel producing its blessed results among this benighted though highly civilised race of man- 
kind. The names of Leang Afa, and of other Chinese converts, are first-fruits (it is to be hoped) of 
an impending harvest of more extensive missionary success in the empire of China. Instances of 
decided converts, and promising inquirers, are mentioned in the latest Report (1860) of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society. 



BURMESE, 

INCLUDING ITS COGNATE DIALECT ARAKANESE. 

FOR SPECIMEN OF THE BURMESE VERSION, by De. JUDSON, see Plate 1, page 7. 

I. — EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Burman (called by the natives, mranma, myanma, or byamma) Empire lies south of Assam, 
from which it is separated by the little kingdom of Munipoor, and extends over more than one-fourth 
of the Eastern Peninsula of India. Although the boundaries are not very clearly defined, and have 
been materially contracted to the southward by the late war between Great Britain and Burmah, 
terminated in 1853, which resulted in the cession to Britain of the extensive maritime province of 
Pegu, it is supposed even now to comprise an extent of territory which is greater than the area of the 
British Isles. According to recent information, the total amount of population in Burmah and Ava 



8 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. 

amounts to about 3,000,000, but this number appears to comprise no fewer than eighteen different 
tribes and nations. The Burmans constitute the bulk of the population in the British provinces of 
Martaban, Ye, Tavoy, and Mergui or Tenasserim, which include an area of 32,500 square miles, 
and a population of 118,000 persons. Throughout these provinces Burmese is the language of 
the court, of official proceedings, and of general conversation. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The tyrannical nature of the government, and the degraded servile character of the people, are 
legible in the structure of the Burmese language. Although this language, like the Chinese, is totally 
destitute of inflection, yet, by means of suffixes and affixes, not only are the relations of case, of mood, 
tense, etc., determined, but even the rank both of the speaker and of the hearer is indicated. A 
distinct set of words is used in reference to the common acts of life, when performed by the great or by 
priests. Thus the term expressive of eating, when the action is performed by ordinary individuals, is 
tsah ; but if a priest is said to be eating, the term is pong-bay. Again, the word in common language 
for boiled rice is ta-men ; but a priest's boiled rice must be distinguished as soone. These distinctions 
add precision to the language, but greatly augment the difficulties of its acquirement. It has been 
conjectured that the Burmese was originally a dialect of the Chinese family of languages, and that it was 
moulded into its present form by admixture with the Pali, which, with the worship of Boodh, was 
introduced into the Indo-Chinese countries from Hindoostan, by the circuitous route of Ceylon. The 
Chinese origin of many of the Burmese words is still apparent; and of the four peculiar tones pertain- 
ing to the Chinese, two are in use among the Burmans. Nearly all the abstract and metaphysical 
terms of the Burmese language are, however, derived immediately from the Pali, and in Dr. Judson's 
Dictionary, it is said, the number of Pali words amounts nearly to four thousand. All pure Burmese 
words are monosyllabic, and even the polysyllabic terms engrafted on the language from the Pali, are, 
in general, subjected to certain orthographical changes, and pronounced as if each syllable were a dis- 
tinct word ; this circumstance, together with the frequent recurrence of guttural, sibilant, and nasal 
sounds, renders the language monotonous and unmusical to the ear of a stranger. Words closely allied 
in signification (as an adjective and the noun it qualifies) are, however, united in writing so as to form 
one word, and sometimes six or eight words are thus strung together, forming words of such formid- 
able length as to remind us of the polysynthetic dialects of America. As many words have two, three, 
or even ten significations with the same orthography, this manner of connecting words is of important 
service in removing ambiguity. Numerals are generally combined with a word descriptive of the form, 
or some other quality of the noun to which they belong, and in that state they are joined to the noun, 
and constitute one word. In this peculiarity the Burmese language resembles the Siamese and Chinese 
languages. The Burmans, like the Germans, delight in long and highly involved periods : in a simple 
phrase the agent is generally put first, then the object, and lastly the verb ; and as compared with the 
English idiom, the words of a Burmese composition may be said to stand directly in an inverted order. 
"The character of the language," says Dr. Leyden, "has a very considerable effect on the style of 
the compositions which it contains. Repetitions of the same turn and expression are rather affected 
than shunned, and a kind of native strength and simplicity of phrase, with short sentences full of 
meaning, are the greatest beauties of which the language admits." Although the Burmese language 
can boast of numerous literary productions, it was comparatively little known to Europeans until the 
establishment of the Baptist Mission at Rangoon. It numbers many dialects : some say, as many as 
eighteen. 

The Burmese Alphabet is derived from the Sanscrit, through the Pali, the sacred language of the 
empire. It consists of twelve vowels and thirty-two consonants. In point of form, it surpasses all the 
alphabets of Western Asia in simplicity ; almost all the letters being either a circle or a portion of it, 
or a combination of two or more circles, called for that reason, tza-lonh, or "round writing." Although 



Ciass I.] BURMESE. 9 

the sounds in some cases are different, the same system of classification prevails as in the alphabets of 
Hindoostan. The first twenty-five consonants are distributed into five classes, viz., the gutturals, the 
palatals, the cerebrals, the dentals, and the labials. The first letter of each class is a simple articulation, 
smooth and soft, the second is the aspirate of the first ; the third letter has a corresponding rough and 
hard sound, and the fourth, according to the Sanscrit system, is the aspirate of the third, but the 
Burmese do not distinguish it in sound from the third : the fifth letter is the corresponding nasal. Of 
the consonants, not included in the above classes, five are called liquids, one is termed an aspirate, and 
another though pronounced th, is properly a sibilant. Vowels, when they enter into' combination with 
consonants, are represented, as in the Indian languages, by certain abbreviated forms, called symbols, 
placed before or after, above or below, the consonant. Four of the consonants also combine under 
symbolic forms with other consonants, and thus the compound consonants are formed. The accents 
offer a great impediment to the acquisition of the language, as words which are the same in ortho- 
graphy, vary greatly in signification according to the accent they receive. The light accent is denoted 
by the sign ( ° ) placed under the letter ; the heavy accent by ( ° ) placed after the letter. On the other 
hand, a great number of words are pronounced very differently from the way they are spelled; and the 
pronunciation of the language, even by educated natives, is generally indistinct. Two small parallel 
lines ( || ) are used to separate sentences, and sometimes the clauses of sentences. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE HOLT SCRIPTURES. 

Three MS. translations of small portions of Scripture were made by Roman Catholic missionaries 
before the establishment of a Protestant mission in this empire ; but the first attempt to procure a 
complete version in this language was made by the Baptist missionaries of Serampore. About the 
year 1807 Felix Carey, the son of Dr. Carey, settled in Burmah as a missionary ; he applied very 
diligently to the study of the language, and in conjunction with Mr. Chater, who resided for a short 
time in the country, he produced a translation of two or three Gospels. In this work great aid was 
derived from a book of Scripture extracts, afterwards printed at Serampore, containing accounts of the 
Creation, the Fall, the history of Our Lord, and the main doctrines of Christianity ; the MS. was 
written in Burmese by an Italian missionary then residing at Ava ; he had studied Burmese and held 
daily intercourse with the natives for twenty-five years, and yet he declared that he still continued to 
find something new and complicated in the language. In 1815, 2000 copies of the Gospel of S. Mat- 
thew, by Messrs. Chater and Carey, were printed at Serampore ; but this is a very imperfect translation, 
and is said to be quite unintelligible to the Burmans. Mr. Carey had studied medicine in Calcutta, 
and he introduced vaccination in Burmah; this led to an interruption of his labours as a translator, for 
in 1813 he received a summons to the court of Ava, to vaccinate the royal family. Not having suf- 
ficient virus in his possession, he was sent with almost regal honours to Bengal to procure a further 
supply. On his return in 1814, when proceeding from Eangoon with his family to Ava, the royal 
residence, he was shipwrecked, and his wife and children all perished. Yet shortly after, leaving his 
missionary work, he accepted the office of ambassador from the Court of Ava to the Bengal govern- 
ment. The translation upon which he was engaged was transferred to the Rev. Dr. Adoniram Judson, 
who had a short time previously arrived in Burmah under the auspices of the American Baptist Board. 
Dr. Judson recommenced the version, and in 1816 was joined by Mr. Hough, with whose aid, and the 
present of a press and types from Serampore, the Gospel of S. Matthew was printed at Rangoon in 1817, 
as introductory to the entire New Testament. In 1821, Dr. Judson gives the following account of his 
progress in the translation, which he appears to have made immediately from the Sacred original. 
" I have engaged Moung Sheva Gnong (a convert) to assist me in revising the Acts, but he is so par- 
ticular and thorough that we get on very slowly, not more that ten verses a day, though he is with me 
from nine in the morning till sunset." During the first Burmese war, in 1825, Mr. Hough repaired 
to Serampore with various books of Scripture revised and prepared for the press; and under his super- 
intendence 21,500 copies of different portions of the New Testament were there printed. Never, in 



10 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. 

modern times, have Christian missionaries been subjected to such bitter sufferings and privations as 
those which have been endured for the sake of the Gospel of Christ in Ava. The bonds, and imprison- 
ments, and sufferings of Mr. Hough and Mr. Wade at Eangoon, and of Dr. Judson and Dr. Price at 
Ava, at the close of the war above referred to, are fresh in the recollection of Christians. These events 
greatly retarded the work of translation. More than once the mission was entirely suspended ; but 
eventually all turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel, inasmuch as many territories by this war 
were placed under British protection. The second and later struggle between Great Britain and the 
Burmese power has resulted in political arrangements still more important in reference to the progress 
of missionary labour in this large portion of the Asiatic continent ; the province of Pegu having, in 
1853, been annexed to the territories of British India. 

The first complete version of the Burmese New Testament was issued from the press in December, 
1832. The edition consisted of 3000 copies, and was printed under the patronage of the American 
and Foreign Bible Society. In 1834, Dr. Judson completed the translation of the Old Testament, 
which has since been published by him in handsome quarto. (Second edition of 5000 in 1840.) On 
this subject he has the following touching entry in his journal : " Jan. 31, 1834. — Thanks be to God! 
I can now say ' I have attained.' I have knelt down before him, with the last leaf in my hand ; and 
imploring His forgiveness for all my sins that have polluted my labours in this department, and His 
aid in future efforts to remove the errors and imperfections, which necessarily cleave to the work, 
I have commended it to His mercy and grace : I have dedicated it to His glory. May He make His 
own inspired word, now complete in the Burman tongue, the grand instrument of filling all Burmah 
with songs of praises to our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ." In 1837, a second and much 
improved edition of 10,000 copies of the New Testament was printed by the American Baptist mis- 
sionaries, established at Maulmein. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THIS VERSION. 

The fruits of the Rangoon translation were not first manifested in Burmah itself, nor even among 
the Burmans; the Gospel, it has been well remarked, is like a spring of water; if it cannot find a pas- 
sage in one direction, it forces its way in another. At the very time that no perceptible effect seemed 
to result from the reading of the Burmese Scriptures in the special country for which the translation 
was made, this version was especially blessed in a tract of country bordering upon Chittagong, in- 
habited by the Mughs, a people of Aracan, who at the close of the last century had for political causes 
migrated from their own country, and placed themselves under British protection. Their language, 
which is sometimes called the Rukheng, varies only from Burmese in pronunciation, and a few pro- 
vincial forms; and is in fact merely the oldest dialect of the Burmese language. In 1815, De Bruyn, 
a devoted missionary, commenced the distribution of portions of the sacred volume among them; and 
shortly after his death it was found that there were no less than ninety baptized Mughs united in 
church fellowship. For three years they had no minister or missionary resident among them ; yet 
during all this period, the perusal of the Scriptures being duly persevered in, they were enabled to 
maintain the worship of God, and to edify one another; and those brethren from distant stations who 
occasionally visited them, bore testimony of their faith and good works. The American Baptists have 
since written portions of the New Testament in the Arakanese, or proper dialect of this interesting 
people ; but the Burmese Scriptures are likewise fully intelligible, and much prized among them. 

We have an account of the first convert in Burmah from the pen of Mrs. Judson. She says, — 
" A few days ago I was reading with him (the first Burman convert) Christ's sermon on the Mount. 
Pie was deeply impressed. ' These words,' said he, ' take hold on my very heart, they make me 
tremble. Here God commands us to do every thing that is good in secret, not to be seen of men. 
How unlike our religion is this ! When Burmans make offerings at the pagodas they make a great 
noise with drums and musical instruments, that others may see how good they are ; but this religion 
makes the mind fear God ; it makes it of its own accord fear sin.' " Although Burmah at one time 



Class I.] BURMESE. 11 

presented to Dr. Judson and the first missionaries a continued scene of discouragement, yet it after- 
wards became an example of the ease with which God can arrest the attention of a whole people to the 
Scriptures. Writing in 1831, Dr. Judson said, that one of the most remarkable features of the mission 
was the surprising spirit of inquiry then spreading everywhere, through the whole length and breadth 
of the land : he stated that during a great national festival held that year, no less than six thousand 
applicants came to the mission-house. " Sir," said they, " we hear that there is an eternal hell. We 
are afraid of it. Give us a writing that will tell us how to escape it." Others came from the frontier 
of Cassay, a hundred miles north of Ava. — " Sir ! we have seen a writing which tells about an eternal 
God. Are you the man who gives away such writings? If so, pray give us one, for we want to know 
the truth before we die." Others came from the interior of the country, where the name of Jesus is a 
little known. — " Are you Jesus Christ's man? Give us a writing that tells about Jesus Christ." 

Dr. Judson's subsequent account of the character of the Burmans is equally hopeful. They are, 
he says, a careful, deliberative people, who turn a thing many times over before they take it. They 
are not disposed to give much credit to the words of a missionary,* but when a tract is put intolheir 
hands, they wrap it up carefully, deposit it in a fold of the waistcloth or turban, carry it home to their 
village, and, when a leisure evening occurs, the family lamp is produced, the man, his wife and rela- 
tions gather round, and the contents of the new writing receive a full discussion. Instances have not 
been wanting of the blessing of God having followed this careful study of His word. Mr. Kincaid 
relates that during a journey through Burmah, a youth who had previously applied for books came to 
him, and besought him, before he quitted the city, to visit an old man who was anxious to see the 
teacher. Mr. Kincaid followed the lacHrome, and was surprised to find in the object of his visit an 
old man full of faith and hope in Christ, though he had had no other teacher than St. John's Gospel and 
a tract, called The View, accompanied by the Holy Spirit. He said that he had loved Christ for about 
two years; and his language, Mr. Kincaid relates, was that of a man acquainted with his own heart. 
Narrating a voyage up the Irawaddy, from Kangoon to Ava, this missionary describes the people as 
most eager to hear and to get books. One man said that he had got a book in Rangoon that told him 
about the Eternal God who made all things, and about Christ who died to open a way for the forgive- 
ness of sins. He said the more he thought of this, the more sure he felt that it was true. Many such 
instances convincingly show that a wide field is opened in Burmah for the diffusion of truth, and in a 
printed form. To account for such large issues of the Scriptures as have taken place in Burmah, it 
should be stated that the Burmans are generally able to read, and a smattering of education is more 
common among them, perhaps, than any other people of the East. A Burmese and English Dic- 
tionary, in 8vo., by A. Judson, was issued at Maulmein, in 1826; and a second edition in 1852. 



PEGUESE, PEGTTAN, MON, TALAIN, OR TALING. 

SEE SPECIMEN OF BURMESE, Plate 1, page 7. 

The Peguese language is still spoken in Pegu, a country which formerly included all the sea-coast and 
the mouths of the rivers of the Burman empire, but the Burmese portion of which, comprising by far 
the greater part of its extent, has now (as mentioned in a preceding page) become a province of the 
British-Indian empire ; it comprises an area of 22,640 square miles, with a population of 70,000. 
Great numbers of the agriculturists in Siam are Peguans. Pegu was formerly a great and powerful 
state, and governed by its own monarchs, but in a contest with Burmah and Siam it fell, and the 
Peguans were for a time the slaves of both empires. The Peguese language is supposed to be more 



12 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class 1. 

ancient than the Burmese: it abounds in gutturals, and is simple in construction. The alphabet is the 
same as the Burmese, except two additional consonants. During their possession of the country, the 
Burmans did their utmost to extirpate the language, and to render their own predominant, but without 
success. A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew, and of St. John's Epistles has been made into 
Peguese from the Burmese by Ko-man-poke, a learned native, but no copy of this version appears to 
have reached Europe. A translation of the whole New Testament, by Mr. Haswell, was printed at 
Maulmein in 1847. The edition consisted of 3000 copies. 



SIAMESE. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THE SIAMESE VEESION, see Plate 11, page 337. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 
The kingdom of Siam embraces a large portion of the peninsula of India beyond the Ganges. It lies 
between the empire of Anam to the eastward, and the British provinces of Pegu and Tenasserim, 
which form its western border. On the south, it includes the shores of the Gulf of Siam ; to the north- 
ward, it is limited by the territory of the semi-independent Laos or Shan tribes, situated in the heart 
of the peninsula. The area of Siam proper is estimated by Crawfurd at 190,000 square miles. The 
estimates of the population have varied between three and seven mdlions. Sir John Bowring is 
disposed to consider the real population of Siam proper as amounting to from four and a half to five 
millions. The Siamese themselves are probably fewer than 2,000,000 of the number. A large pro- 
portion—probably not less than a third of the whole — are Chinese. Siam may, with its dependencies, 
be considered as occupied by a dominant race, or T'hai ; a vast but for the most part migratory Chinese 
population, the Laos people, the Cambodians in such parts of Cambodia as recognise the Siamese 
authority, the Peguans in a part of the Mon or Pegu territory, numerous Malayan tribes, with a variety 
of mountain races in a state of greater or less subjection to the government of Bang-kok. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The language of the Siamese was formerly called Sa-yama phasa, the " Sa-yam language." But 
since the reign of Ruang, who set his country free from the yoke of Cambodja, the Siamese call them- 
selves T'hai, "free"; and their language pliasa-Thay , or Tai, " the tongue of free-men." The native 
Siamese language possesses considerable affinity with some of the provincial dialects of China, more espe- 
cially the Mandarin or Court dialect, from which many of its radical words and numerals are obviously 
borrowed. But the language, as it is spoken by educated people, contains many words of Pali origin ; 
and is divided into three principal styles of writing and speaking. Several fundamental terms, belong- 
ing to the Malay, are also found in Siamese, which has for this reason been regarded as the connecting 
link between the Chinese and Malay languages. The delicate intonations of the Chinese exist in 
Siamese, and it is more strongly accented than any other Indo-Chinese language. 

The political institutions of Siam, in point of despotism and tyranny, are akin to those of Burmah, 
and have had great effect in moulding the language and the literature. The rank of the speaker may 
in Siamese, as in Burmese, be inferred from the pronouns he uses; and, phrases expressive of adulation 
and flattery are very numerous and varied. The words which hold the office of pronouns are 
hence particularly numerous, and attention to the rules for their distinctive use is so rigidly 
exacted from all classes, that the misapplication of a single pronominal is considered indecorous and 
disrespectful. The alphabet, though formed on the model of the Pali and Devanagari characters, 
possesses several original elements, whence it has been conjectured that an ancient style of writing was 
known in Siam prior to the introduction of Buddhism and the Pali language in the fourth century. 
There are thirty-five consonants and the vocalic a ; this latter is often placed in a word as a sort of 



Class I.J SIAMESE. 13 

pivot on which the vowel points are arranged, forming, as it were, the body of each of the simple 
vowels. There are sixteen simple vowels or finals, besides twenty-nine distinct and complex final 
vowel combinations. The nasals are quite as diversified as the Chinese ; the letters b, d, r, which are 
rejected by the Chinese, are adopted in this language, but on the other hand, the letters ts, sh, tch, 
fh, hh, which belong to Chinese, do not exist in Siamese. Words are not generally divided in 
writing, and a small' blank supplies the place of our colon and semicolon. Siamese differs from most 
of the Eastern languages, in admitting but little inversion of the natural order in the construction of 
sentences; the words follow each other much in the same way as in English; for instance, the nomina- 
tive almost invariably precedes the verb, and verbs and prepositions precede the cases which they 
govern. No orthographical changes whatever mark the variations of number, case, or person, but 
prefixes and affixes are in constant use. The language has been represented as copious ; "yet," says 
Crawfurd, " it rather possesses that species of redundancy which belongs to the dialects of many semi- 
barbarous nations, and which shows a long but not a useful cultivation." 

III. — SIAMESE VERSIONS OP SCRIPTURE. 

In 1810, the design of providing Siam with a version of the four Gospels was entertained by the 
Calcutta Auxiliary Bible Society, and Dr. Leyden undertook to superintend the translation ; but he 
died before this important project had been carried into execution. Perhaps the first attempt at trans- 
lating the Scriptures into Siamese was made by Mrs. Judson, of the American Baptist Mission, who 
with the aid of her Burman pundit produced a version of the Gospel of St. Matthew. Owing, however, 
to the death of that lamented lady, a stop was put to further translation till 1828, when Messrs. Gutzlaff 
and Tomlin visited Siam in the capacity of missionaries and physicians, and applied sedulously to the 
study of the language with a view to the translation of the Scriptures; after a residence of nine months, 
Mr. Tomlin was compelled by ill health to relinquish the undertaking, and Mr. Gutzlaff prosecuted his 
important labours alone. Part of the MS. translation of the New Testament was forwarded to Malacca 
as early as 1829; but the missionaries connected with the Malacca press proceeded with the utmost 
caution, and made a practice of printing no portion of the version until they had ascertained, by actual 
experiment, that it could be read and clearly understood by natives of every capacity, from those of 
the first literary rank to the commonest readers. Mr. Gutzlaff, being remarkably favoured with the 
best native assistance, subjected the translation to several revisions; and after labouring night and day 
for a long period, he in 1833 sent a revised copy of the New Testament to Singapore. The work of 
revision was continued by Mr. Jones, one of the Baptist missionaries in Burmah, who from his having 
previously studied the cognate language of the Shans, was well qualified for the task ; he was sent to 
Bankok (the capital of Siam) at the instance of Messrs. Gutzlaff and Tomlin in 1834. Mr. Robinson, 
another missionary at Bankok, also engaged in the work, and in 1841 produced a translation of Genesis 
and Daniel, and a new or amended version of several books of the New Testament. The publication 
was aided by a grant in 1843 from the American Baptist Bible Society. In 1846, Mr. Jones completed 
the translation and publication of the entire New Testament in Siamese. 2nd edition 1000 copies, 
Bankok, 1850. 

IT. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OP THIS VERSION. 

Siam affords comparatively few instances of conversion following the perusal of the Word, yet in 
no country perhaps has the intervention of Providence been more manifested in opening a wide door 
for the general distribution of the Scriptures. The American Board of Missions and the American 
Baptists have missionaries in Siam, by whom the Scriptures are circulated among the people without 
let or hinderance from king, nobility, or priesthood. The priests have even frequently sent to the 
missionaries requesting to be supplied with copies of the holy volume, and have on some occasions 
expressed a degree of dissatisfaction with their own religion, and an apparently sincere desire to examine 
the tenets of Christianity. In fact, one of the missionaries stated, in 1842, that no class of people are 



14 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. 

more importunate in begging for books than the priests, and this too in public, and on all occasions. 
This dissemination of Scripture has had the effect in Siam of considerably narrowing the original 
ground of controversy. The Siamese now declare, that were they but fully satisfied as to the existence 
of a future state, they would gladly embrace Christianity as the only system which provides for the 
forgiveness of sins; for they have been brought to acknowledge the sinfulness of their own nature and 
practices, and tbey clearly perceive that Buddhism, which is in fact practical atheism, offers no means 
or hope of pardon. 

The first appearance of the missionaries in Siam spread a general panic among the people, for it 
was well known by the predictions of the Pali books, that a certain religion of the West should vanquish 
Buddhism; but upon the breaking out of the war between Burmah and Siam, the English remaining 
neutral, the people were reassured, and many instances occurred in which deep interest was expressed 
in the perusal of the Scriptures. There are, however, peculiar impediments to missionary labours in 
Siam, arising partly from the character of the people, which is so fickle that an opinion they may 
embrace to-day they will be ready to reject to-morrow, and partly from the regularly organized system 
by which idolatry is supported: the pagodas are the schools of learning in which the youth of the 
empire are trained; every educated Siamese, from the emperor down to the lowest of his subjects, is 
compelled at some period or other of his life to enter the priesthood, and " he who refuses to become 
a priest, must remain ignorant." It has been ascertained that the great majority of Siamese, male and 
female, are able to read; and even in Siam instances have unexpectedly been brought to light of the 
Divine blessing having accompanied tbe private study of Scripture. On one occasion, for instance, a 
missionary was called to the bedside of a sick man, whom he had never before seen. After applying 
the remedies for the disease suggested by his medical skill, the missionary began to discourse on the 
glad tidings of the Gospel. The sick man immediately interrupted him, and said with much earnestness 
and seriousness, that he himself knew Ayso (Jesus), and worshipped him every day. Surprised and 
delighted, the missionary asked for an explanation, and was informed that a brother of the sick man 
had read in his hearing portions of Scripture and tracts distributed by the missionaries, and that the 
precious seed thus sown by the way-side had been blessed by God. 



COGNATE DIALECTS. 

It is worthy of observation, that Siamese is properly speaking only one dialect of the ancient and widely 
extended language called T'hai ; the other dialects are the Laos, Khamti (almost identical with the 
ancient Ahom), and Shyan. Little has been done in these three dialects towards the translation of Scrip- 
ture. The Laos people are described by Dr. Bradley as being in a peculiar sense ripe for the Gospel harvest. 
Several applied to him for books written with their own characters; they said they could read Siamese 
books stammeringly, but their own with ease. A Laos man pleaded with Dr. Bradley not to forget 
him and his people, but to furnish them speedily with a version of the holy books in their own dialect. 
Although the Laos has been described by most travellers as a totally distinct dialect from the Siamese, 
yet such is the similarity between the two dialects that Captain Low states from his own experience, 
that it is easy for a person who understands the Siamese tongue, to travel safely (in so far as language 
is concerned) throughout North Laos. The Laos dialect has, however, an alphabet exclusively 
appropriated to it, which is more allied to the Peguese or Mon than to the Siamese alphabet. 



Class I.] KAREN. 15 

CAMBOJAN. 

The Cambojan language is spoken in Cambodia, once an independent and powerful state, but now 
divided between Siam and tbe empire of Anam. The language differs materially from the Siamese, 
being more harsh, but at the same time more copious. Gutzlaff commenced a version of the New 
Testament in Cambojan, but it would appear that he afterwards discontinued it. Throughout the 
other provinces of the empire of Anam, a monosyllabic language denominated the Anamite or Anamitic 
is spoken, in which, however, no translation of the Scriptures exists, but only a Grammar and Dictionary, 
by the Bishop Taberd, printed at Serampore in 1838. 



KAREN, KARAYN OR KARIENG. 

FOR SPECIMEN OF THE KAREN VERSIONS, see Plate 10, page 115. 
I. — EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Kareens, Karenes, or Careians, are a wild and simple people, scattered over all parts of the Bur- 
man territories, and of the British provinces of Tenasserim : they are also found in the Western portions 
of Siam, and northward among the Shyans. Their residences are in the jungles and among the moun- 
tains, and are most numerous on the mountains which separate Burmah from Siam. The number of 
these people, owing to their nomadic habits and wide dispersion, is difficult to be ascertained, but it 
has been estimated at about 33,000. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OE THE LANGUAGE. 

The Karen language possesses several original elements, and in many respects varies in genius and 
structure from the Burmese, Siamese, and Peguese languages, though it freely borrows words from 
each. Its alphabet consists of twenty-four consonants, and eleven vowels. It has five tones, some of 
which appear different from those of any other monosyllabic tongue. The Karen language is remark- 
ably harmonious, and well adapted for poetry: a final consonant never occurs, but every word terminates 
with a vowel sound. Till a comparatively recent period, however, Karen was totally unknown to 
Europeans. About 1835, two missionaries of the American Baptist Missionary Society, Messrs. Wade 
and Mason, acquired the language, and for the first time reduced it to writing. For this purpose they 
employed the Burmese alphabet, with a few additional characters to express the peculiar sounds of the 
language. The system of teaching reading, adopted by Mr. Wade, is so admirably conceived, that 
a person ignorant of a single letter can be taught to read a Karen book with ease in a few weeks. 
Mr. Mason affirms that the alphabetical powers of the Karen alphabet are of Arabic or Hebrew origin. 
This fact, together with the personal appearance and physical peculiarities of this singular people, and 
a series of very remarkable traditions current from time immemorial among them, has led him to form 
the idea of their being descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The missionaries were induced to undertake a version of the New Testament in Karen by the 
earnest and repeated entreaties of the people themselves for books. As early as 1828, Mr. Boardman, 
of the American Baptist Society, was visited frequently at Tavoy, one of the missionary stations, by 
great numbers of the Karens, and had ample opportunities of preaching the Gospel to them. Among 



16 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. 

the most interesting of his visitors was a native chief, who appeared particularly anxious for instruction 
in the way of righteousness. " Give us books," he said, " give us books in our own native language ! 
then all the Karens will learn to read. We want to know the true God. We have been lying in 
total darkness — the Karen's mind is like his native jungle." The translation of the entire New Testa- 
ment into Karen was accordingly accomplished by Messrs. Wade and Mason ; yet during several years, 
for want of adequate pecuniary means, no attempt was made at printing, but each book as soon as 
completed was copied and circulated in MS. In 1842, the American and Foreign Bible Society 
granted £625 towards the printing of the New Testament, and an edition soon after issued from the 
press at Tavoy, under the superintendance of Mr. Bennett. Mr. Mason has since translated the Psalms 
into Karen, including both the Sgau and Sho dialects of that language. Of the New Testament in 
Sgau Karen the American Mission Press at Maulmein issued 4000 (2nd edition 8vo.) in 1850. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

This version of Scripture appears to have been attended in a remarkable degree with the Divine 
blessing from the very first period of its execution. The Karens were in a manner prepared to welcome 
Christianity, not only by their religious tenets, which formed a noble contrast to Buddhism, but by a 
singular prediction of their ancient seers, which caused them to look for relief from Burman oppression 
to " the white foreigners." In 1839, when the Karens had no books, few living teachers, and only 
a MS. copy of St. Matthew, they were gathered together in considerable numbers from all parts by the 
sound of the Gospel; and settling down in a district about two days' journey from Tavoy, they formed 
a Christian village, the heads of every family being members of the church. Civilization followed 
Christianity. Cleanliness (by no means a native Karen virtue) was substituted for their former depraved 
habits, and various industrial arts were learnt and steadily pursued. The power of the Scriptures 
upon these simple and unlettered people is shown by various anecdotes related by the missionaries. 
" Once Mrs. Wade had occasion to read the chapter in St. Matthew about visiting Christ (as 
represented in his disciples) when sick or in prison. They immediately perceived how regardless they 
had been of persons in sickness and sorrow, and began thenceforward to perform services for the sick, 
which they had never thought of before. A poor widow suffering under a leprous disease, who had 
a young child similarly afflicted, was visited by many the next day. They performed various repulsive 
offices for her and the child, brought water, cleaned the house, gave them rice and other articles; and 
so enriched and comforted the poor creature that she was bewildered with delight. These attentions 
they continued constantly. Another person, bedridden with loathsome sores, was attended to in the 
same way. Since that time no one has been suffered to want any thing which the rest enjoy; and their 
acts of kindness are done with studied concealment." 



MUNIPOORA. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT. 
MuNIPOORA is the language of Munipoor, a small independent kingdom, which lies south of Assam. 
Great confusion has arisen from the various names given to this country; the Burmans call it Kathe, 
and the Shyans Cassay, and geographers have distinguished it sometimes by one and sometimes by 
another name. It is 125 miles in length by 90 in breadth, lying between the parallels of 23° and 26°, 
and between the meridians of 93° and 95° East. The central part of the country consists of a rich and fertile 
valley, including an area of 650 square miles; the remainder of the territory is occupied by an encircling 



Class I.] MUNIPO OR A.— KH AS SEE. 17 

zone of mountains and hills, inhabited by various tribes subject to Munipoor. The amount of population 
is probably about 70,000 : Pemberton, however, estimates it at only 20,000. Brahminism was imposed 
on the people little more than half a century ago, by command of the rajah; but it is by no means 
firmly rooted. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

It appears from their language and physical peculiarities, that the Muniporeans are the descendants 
of some Mongol or Chinese colony. Like most monosyllabic languages, Munipoora is inartificial in 
structure, and uninflected. It has a close affinity with Khassee. 

III. — VERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 

Aversion of the New Testament was undertaken by Dr. Carey in 1814: he procured some learned 
natives from Munipoor, and superintended their labours. This translation was completed, and an edition 
of 1000 copies printed in the Bengalee character in 1824, at Serampore: it was aided indirectly by the 
British and Foreign Bible Society. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

Little is known concerning the effect produced on the Muniporeans by the perusal of the Scrip- 
tures, for they have as yet no missionary among them. 



KHASSEE. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION IN THE BENGALEE CHARACTER, see Plate 1, page 7. 

SPECIMEN IN ROMAN LETTERS, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. 

1 Haba u ioh in ia ki paitbah, u la kiu sha u Mm ; haba u la shong rub., ki la wan ha 
u ki synran jong u : 2 u la ang rub ia la ka shintur, u la hikai ruh ia ki, u da ong, 

3 Suk ki ba duk ha ka mynsiim ; na ba jong ki long ka hima ka byneng. 4 Suk ki ba 
sngousi ; na ba yn pyntyngen ia ki. 5 Suk ki ba jemnut ; na ba kin' ioh ia ka kyndeu. 
6 Suk ki ba tyngan bad ba sliang ia ka hok ; naba yn pyndap ia ki. 7 Suk ki ba isnei ; 
na ba yn isnei ia ki. 8 Suk ki bakuid ha ca cloniit ; na ba kin ioh ih ia U Blei. 9 Suk 
ki ba pyniasuk ; na ba yn khot ia ki, ki kiln U Blei. 10 Suk ki ba ioh pynshitom na ka 
bynta ka hok ; na ba jong ki long ki hima ka byneng. 11 Suk maphi, ha ba ki leh bein ia 
phi, ki pynshitom ruh, ki ong ki ktin bymman baroh ruh ia phi na ka bynta jong nga, ha 
ba ki shu lamlher : 12 Phin kymen, phin sngoubha eh ruh ; naba kumta ki la pynshitom 
ia ki Prophet ki ba la mynshiwa jong phi. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT. 

Khassee is the language of the Cossyahs, Cassias, or Khasias, a race of Tartar or Chinese origin, ruled 
by a number of petty rajahs, who form a sort of confederacy. To some degree they still preserve their 



18 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. 

independence, but are under the supervision of a British agent for Cossyah affairs. The tract of 
country known as the Cossyah Hills adjoins the eastern extremity of the Bengal Presidency, lying 
between Assam and Sylhet on the north and south, and Jynteah and the Garrow country on the east 
and west, extending from latitude 25° to 26° 7', and from longitude 90° 52' to 92° 11'. Its area, 
according to Thornton, is estimated at 729 square miles, and the amount of its population is about 
11,000. The people, though uncivilized, are manly, upright, and sincere; and regard with detestation 
the falsehood and deceitfulness of the neighbouring Hindoos. They are, however, remarkably indolent 
and filthy, avaricious, ignorant, and extremely superstitious. Their religion has been represented to 
be a species of Brahminism ; but they seem to have only a vague notion of some Spirit or Spirits to 
which they offer sacrifice, and their altars may well bear the inscription, " To the unknown God." 
They have neither idols nor temples ; but many peculiarly-shaped stones and rocks, as well as streams 
and groves, are accounted holy, and sacrifices are made to them. The country is the extreme limit 
of the predominance of the Brahminical sect to the eastward, for beyond these hills Buddhism is almost 
universal. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

This language is uninflected and simple in grammatical construction ; and although strictly mono- 
syllabic, it possesses none of those varied tones which appertain to other languages of this class. Some 
words of Sanscrit origin are to be found in Khassee, but it is difficult to recognise them on account 
of the monosyllables prefixed or added. There is no alphabet; the kw among the Cossyahs who can 
read or write use the Bengalee character. But their use of this alphabet is merely owing to their 
frequent intercourse with Sylhet; for 'their language bears internal marks of having been at some distant 
period allied with the Chinese. This is shown by the personal pronoun, and by the frequent recurrence 
of the sounds ming, eng, ung, etc. as in Chinese. 

III. — VERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 

A lady was honoured by God to be the main instrument in preparing the first version of Holy Scripture 
in this language. She was the widow of one of the rajahs or chieftains of the country; and Dr. Carey, 
pleased with her intelligence, availed himself of her aid in translating the New Testament. Dr. Carey 
had also recourse to the advice of his Assamese pundit, who, from the vicinity of the Cossyah hills 
to his own country, had had opportunities of acquiring a tolerable acquaintance with the language. 
The preparation of this version occupied ten years; it was printed in Bengalee characters, and an 
edition of 500 copies left the Serampore press in 1824. For about seven years it remained a sealed 
book, for no opportunity occurred of distributing it among the people for whom it had been prepared. 
In 1832 some of the missionaries at Scrarnpore, being in ill health, visited Cherrapoonjee, a place in 
the Khassee country rioted for its salubrity. Here their attention was drawn afresh to the spiritual 
destitution of the wild inhabitants of the hills, and great exertions were made for the establishment 
of a mission among them. Mr. Lish, the first missionary who entered upon the work, turned his 
attention to the revision of the Khassee version, and in 1834 he produced a new or amended translation 
of St. Matthew, which was printed at Serampore in Roman characters. In 1840 a Missionary Association 
was formed by the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists; and finding this station unoccupied by any other 
society, they sent the Rev. Thomas Jones as their missionary to these hills. He reached Cherrapoonjee 
in 1841, and after applying with diligence to the study of the language, he executed a new translation 
of St. Matthew's Gospel in Roman characters, which in 1845 he offered to the British and Foreign 
Bible Society. The Committee ordered a small edition to be printed as an experiment, and its value 
and fidelity have been fully attested by competent persons, through the medium of the Auxiliary Society 
at Calcutta. Since then the translation of the entire New Testament has been completed by the 
missionaries engaged on the above station. 

The system of substituting Roman letters for the native characters of Indian alphabets in printed 



Class I.] KHASSEE. 19 

editions of the Scriptures and of other books, has of late years been extensively adopted in India ; 
and the advantages of this system, especially with reference to the Khassee (which in the former 
edition of the New Testament had been printed in Bengalee characters, see Specimen, Plate I), 
cannot be better stated than in the words of an eminent Missionary, Dr. DufF, of Calcutta. In a 
letter addressed to Mr. Jones, the Missionary of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Society at Cherra, 
when the first books used in connection with the mission were about to be published, the doctor 
thus writes — 

" Thoroughly and absolutely do I approve of your determination to print your translated works 
in the Roman characters. It is a strange delusion of Satan that men should strive to uphold varieties 
of alphabetic characters anywhere, provided they could without violence be superseded by one, at 
once uniform and effective, seeing that such variety is a prodigious bar and impediment to the 
diffusion of sound knowledge, and especially Divine truth. But, in a case like yours, where the 
natives had really no written characters of their own at all, to dream of introducing a clumsy, 
awkward, expensive, and imperfect character like that of the Bengali, in preference to the clear, 
precise, and cheaper Bomanised alphabet, would seem to me to be voluntarily raising up new ramparts 
to guard against the invasion of Truth. No, our object ought ever to be to facilitate, and not to 
obstruct, the dissemination of true knowledge of every kind ; and one of the ways of doing so is 
everywhere to encourage the introduction and the use of the Roman alphabet in place of the native 
alphabets, which are linked, and associated, and saturated with all that is idolatrous." 

The Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles have been already carried through the press by 
the Calcutta Bible Society, and other portions are in progress. 

IV. — EESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

Some very interesting accounts have been received of the recent progress of Divine truth among 
these people. Mr. Lish, their first missionary, was welcomed joyfully; they laughed heartily when 
they heard him speak in their own language ; but when he began to open to them the truths of 
Scripture, they were so forcibly impressed as to exclaim that " he was a God, and they but cows 
and goats." When the mission was re-established by Mr. Jones, a chief from a village which he had 
not yet visited thus addressed him: — " If you have any thing from God to say to us, come quickly; 
otherwise we maybe dead, and what you have to say will be of no use to us. What will then become of us?" 

Mr. Jones and his coadjutors have prepared elementary and religious books in the language. 
Several schools have been established, and conducted by the missionaries, their wives, and a few native 
teachers. Many hundreds have already learnt to read, and are truly anxious for books. A desire to 
read and understand English is universal among; them. Some of the natives have been led to abandon 
their superstitions, and to embrace Christianity. Since their baptism they have endured much per- 
secution from their relatives, and in the most trying circumstances they have shown strength of principle 
worthy of an apostolic age. 

One of the missionaries writes thus: — " I have received the Gospel of St. Matthew from Calcutta, 
and the Cassias in the Schools are diligently employed in committing it to memory. This task they 
will accomplish by the time this letter reaches you. I perceive already the great utility of supplying 
them with the Holy Scriptures; for it is evident they understand and remember much better when 
they read themselves than when they listen to another: I see this very clearly in the case of my 
young converts." 

The missionaries testify that the baptized natives "increase in knowledge, in tenderness of conscience, 
and in godly simplicity." One of these converts said to the missionary, " The Word of God is truly 
wonderful, for I have some new thoughts whenever I look into it. I do not find it so with any thing 
else ; but the Word of God is like a fountain which sends forth fresh waters every day : they are not 
the same; but although they differ, they are all very good. Even the same verse says something new 
whenever I look into it." 



20 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class T. 



TIBETAN. 

FOR SPECIMEN OF THE TIBETAN CHARACTER, see Plate 2., page 20. 
I. — EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The vast and mountainous tract of country in which the Tibetan language is spoken lies directly 
north of Hindoostan, from which it is separated by the Himalaya Mountains. Its eastern frontiers 
border on China; to the west, it extends as far as Cashmere, Afghanistan, and Turkestan, while on the 
north it is bounded by the countries of the Turks and the Mongols. It is for the most part comprised 
within the Chinese empire; the western parts, however, appear to be independent of China. On 
account of the extreme jealousy of the Chinese government, Tibet has hitherto been almost inaccessible 
to foreigners; our knowledge of the country is in consequence extremely limited, and no correct esti- 
mate appears to have been ever formed of its area or population. 1 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS of the language. 

Tibetan is the language of " Tibet," (in Chinese Tih-Bot, " The land of Bod" the native name 
for " Tibet.") It is sometimes called Bhotanta or Bootan, because spoken in the country of Bootan as 
well as in the adjacent regions of Tibet; it is supposed by some to be a link between the Mono- 
syllabic, Indo-germanic and Shemitic classes. In the Mithridates, Adelung unhesitatingly ranks it 
among the monosyllabic languages, but Remusat does not altogether assent to this classification, for 
while he admits that there are many monosyllabic sounds in Tibetan, he contends that there are like- 
wise compound and polysyllabic words. Some of the very fundamental words of the language, as well 
as almost all the derivative terms, are of undoubted Chinese origin, and in many cases, the original 
Chinese vocables seem to have undergone but slight alteration. In the construction, too, of sentences, 
the Tibetans appear to follow the Chinese idiom. If compared with English, the words of a Tibetan 
phrase will be found to stand exactly in a reverse order. The sentence, " in a book seen by me" would 
be rendered in Tibetan (if translated word for word) in the following manner: " me by seen book a in." 
The articles both definite and indefinite always follow the noun, the nouns in general precede their 
attributes, and the verb, for the most part, stands at the end of a sentence. The several cases of a 
declension are formed by suffixes, and the place of prepositions in English is supplied by postpositions. 
The language, which is as it were twofold, as spoken to superiors or to inferiors, is rendered difficult 
not only by prefixes to verbs, which change in the different tenses, in a manner analogous to the change 
in initials in the Celtic languages, but also by the numerous impersonal verbal expressions; for the 
general mode of conjugating verbs is by prefixing or affixing certain letters to a kind of past participle 
of the verb, which are, however, most frequently silent : but the grammatical forms are in general few, 
vague, and seldom used. The alphabetical character is evidently borrowed from the Devanagari, and 
like it, is written from left to right. There are thirty consonants divided into eight classes, and four 
vowel signs. There are likewise compound consonants, representing sounds not strictly occurring in 
their alphabet. Although a single letter often constitutes an entire word, yet the orthographical system 
is, for the most part, clumsy and burdensome; for initial, quiescent, subscript, and final letters are 
introduced upon every possible occasion ; and though completely disregarded in the colloquial articu- 

1 An elaborate account of the geography of Western Tibet, by Captain Stracbey, of the Bengal army, is 
found in the twenty-third volume of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society (London, 1853). The Eastern 
portion of Tibet was visited, in 1846-7, by Hue and Gabet, two enterprising French missionaries, the narrative of 
whose journey has been published. There exists also a description of Tibet in Russian, translated from the Chinese, 
and published at St. Petersburgh in 1828 : 8vo. — without name of Author. 



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Class I.] TIBET AN.— LEP CH A. 21 

lation of words, they add materially to the labour of reading and writing the language, which is harsh 
and heavy when spoken. 

III. VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

An attempt was made by the Church Missionary Society, in 1816, to furnish the inhabitants of 
this vast region with a version of the Scriptures in their own language, but unhappily this important 
undertaking ultimately proved abortive. Mr. Schrceter, a missionary of that Society, after having 
devoted himself with much stedfastness and success to the acquisition of the language, was cut off by 
death at the very moment that he was about to begin the translation of the Scriptures. Mr. Le Roche, 
another missionary of the same Society, was appointed to succeed him , but the climate of India proved 
fatal likewise to his constitution, and he died on his return homewards. Major Latter, who had been 
chiefly instrumental in originating the mission, died in 1822, and since that event no further attempts 
towards the preparation of a Tibetan version appear to have been made. A Dictionary, however, 
Tibetan and Italian, executed by some Roman missionary, and collected and arranged by 'Schrceter, 
has been printed at Serampore, with a fount of types cast for the purpose. It consists of nearly 500 
quarto pages, and was completed in 1826. Since that time Tibetan has been more cultivated in 
Europe, through the excellent Grammar and Dictionary of Csoma de Koro, together with his other 
works, and those of Dr. Schmidt, Fouceaux, Wullner, etc. 

Dr. Haeberlin, an agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, after journeying through Tibet 
in 1843, again enforced the necessity of a Tibetan version upon tbe attention of Christian societies; 
and his suggestions appear to have been met by the American missionaries, who, it is said, have now 
this work in contemplation. Dr. Haeberlin states as the result of his observations and inquiries in 
Tibet, that, " as far as the Tibetan language is spoken, and the Lamas have any sWay, so far literature 
exercises an important influence on the people. If there were a version of the Scriptures," continues 
he, " in the Tibetan language, thousands of volumes might annually be sent into the interior of Asia 
from five different points, along the immense frontier of British India; and the millions of people 
speaking that language, and inquisitive as the Chinese are, might thus have a profitable opportunity 
of being made acquainted with the things that belong to their salvation." 



LEPCHA. 

EOE SPECIMEN" OF THE LEPCHA VERSION, see Plate 10, page 115. 

The Lepcha language is spoken by the Lepchas, the undoubted aborigines of the mountain forests near 
Darjeeling. The district they occupy is perhaps about 120 miles in length, from N.W. to S.E., 
extending along the south face of the Himalaya Mountains, until its limits become undefined in the 
mountains of Bootan. Little is known in Europe concerning the Lepcha dialect, but recent researches 
have shown it to be allied to, if not derived from, the Tibetan language. The Rev. W. Start, of Dar- 
jeeling, has commenced a translation of the New Testament in this language, and has recently caused 
1000 copies of the Gospel of St. Matthew to be printed at his own expense. 



CLASS IL-SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. 



HEBREW. 

SPECIMEN", EEOM EXODUS, Chap. xx. v. 1 to 17. 

Vnarein iBte Trfot nirr ? a:ix 2 d nb^ nWn tfwrr^a n« Q*nf?N *13T1 

I 3- "i J iv -: ) Av v: iT : v it i •• v V t /■ r : - t ■)*• • v: J" - : - 

i ^ds *b n^yn-^S 4 , ^&hs unm wrbx $b r\^-^> 3 : wiiy n^aa D*ixa pks 
-vb 5 : pa 1 ? nnwa i tfiaa iBtei nnita pas ^Btai Sjfe i ib wa iBto rfto-^ai 

I | VIT T -J^- • *A\r- 1J-: -;|- - AT • \ 'AT T W -si- <. - • »J- T - J*V "S T ; T : 

nwrbx? Mi« pV T^ Nip b& t^n nirv »5jn *a onayn nSi 6nS mrwn 

i>- t * > T I '-. |" t|- J- | v ■.■: *t : -it J- A": "tit J : >■•.■ t «•-: r : • 

n^ 7 d j*rto ^wbi ^ank 1 ? D*iiW? ion nbw 6 twsA D^ar^ D^W-Sy 

j it : • ;*• : i ; «.- -: i : A* t -: i- v v; v ^: ait : i : v ■■ ^- : j. » • C 

:it - ■• : v « • v -: ;>•■ t : |v- : •>. ■>■ :AT - I vv v: ;t : i- v st • 

Din 10 t hfcibiybi n*fcjn nayn b*a» rw 9 n&np 1 ? naV'n dv-hk ^liar 8 £ 

: | iv : - : t t av *t : *-: i- -i* t v ■*<•• i : | - : *r - - ' v i> t 

-Sa-rM b*n-nN nkrrnKi Dwrnx riin* n^y bwrw *a u jrtfltfa im wi 

t v : t - v I vt t v : "J- t - v t : t "t * t v i" J* i Kt : • JA* -: v| ;i« . 

TaN-n« naa 12 d nn&npM na^*n orm nin* "sna p-W »jraB>n cva m»i oa-i^N 

| v t v '■ " i" :|- :i- vt - - J :■ St : | i-" I- - "k • : - J - -vt- t v -: 

«S 17 d j^ tj ^na niyn-^ 16 d :aH^n n^ 15 d ttjg^i «S U d 
j^.1. 1 ? TN Sa 1 } i'lbrj) ni^ Vibjjj naj;i sjjp n#N n£nri-^ t p d sjp n\a nbnn 

Tnis Specimen portion exhibits the twofold use of the Hebrew accents. The one series is employed when the Decalogue is read by itself, and 
the other series is used when these verses arc read as a continuation of the preceding section of the Pentateuch. The accents are also used 
iu this twofold manner in Deuteronomy, where the Decalogue is repeated. 

The Hebrew language is one of the three principal branches of the Shemitic languages, which have 
been divided thus: — 

1. To the northward, the AramcEan, which comprehends the ?fW- Aramaean, or " Syriac," and the 
East- Aramaean, or " Chaldee." 2. To the westward, the Canaanitish, or Hebrew, in Palestine and 
Phoenicia; of which the Punic is an offshoot. 3. To the southward, the Arabic ; to which also partly 
belongs the Ethiopic. The Samaritan is a mixed dialect, it consists of Aramaean, Hebrew, and many 
foreign terms. 

As regards the name " Hebrew" some, like St. Augustine, etc., derive it from Abraham, but 
wrongly. Others, again, derive it from "DJJ " beyond," i.e., the Euphrates; Abraham being a native of 



Class II.] HEBREW. 2-3 

" Ur of the Chasdim," in northern Mesopotamia. But Hebrew comes probably from "DJ? Heber or 
'Eber, mentioned in Gen. 10. 21; to whom Abulfeda (Hist. Anteisl. iii. iv.) says God granted to speak 
Hebrew, as a reward for his having reproved the builders of the Tower of Babel, for their impious 
attempt to scale Heaven. He is said, in the " Seder 'Olam," to have been a great prophet; and some 
Arabic writers maintain that he was the same as Hud, an abbreviation for Yehud. This induces some 
learned men to think that "133/ and my are identical, and to consider the descendants of both as the 
same people. The Hebrew language, however, flourished during a comparatively short period ; while 
the Arabic has continued to the present day, the richest, and most cultivated of all the Shemitic 
dialects. 

I. — PREDOMINANCE OF THE LANGUAGE. 

But the Hebrew language, honoured by God as the first medium of written revelation, had in 
ancient times predominance over a far greater extent of territory than is commonly supposed. It may 
be inferred from various passages of Sacred History, that the Canaanites, or aboriginal inhabitants of 
Canaan, conversed freely in Hebrew, or in their own closely allied dialect the Phoenician, with Abraham, 
and, many years subsequently, with the tribes of Israel under Joshua. Thus, for instance, the spies 
sent by Joshua to survey the country, had not recourse to the aid of an interpreter in their intercourse 
with Bahab and others. Moreover, the Canaanitish names of places and persons, both in the time of 
Abraham and in that of Joshua, are pure Hebrew terms; Melchisedec, Abimelech, Salem, Jericho, and, 
in fact, all names of persons, cities, and towns in Canaan recorded in Scripture, might be cited as 
examples. (See Joshua, chapters 15 to 22.) It has been clearly proved by the ethnographical researches 
of Gesenius, and other German scholars, that the Canaanites formed part and portion of the people 
known in profane history by the name of Phoenicians; and in the Septuagint, the words Phoenicians and 
Canaanites, Phoenicia and Canaan, are indiscriminately used: (compare Exod. 6. 15 with Gen. 46. 10, 
and Exod. 16. 35 with Jos. 5. 12.) Hence the obvious inference that Hebrew, being very nearly allied 
to the vernacular of the Phoenicians, was spoken, with provincialisms and with characteristic accent, 
at Tyre and Sidon, at Carthage, and in all the numerous colonies established by that enterprising 
people. We may thus trace the use of Hebrew as a vernacular tongue, or as a medium of communi- 
cation, all round the coast of the Mediterranean, with the exception of Italy and (in part) of Greece. 
When the Old Testament was written, probably no language was so widely diffused as the Hebrew: it 
occupied just such a place as Greek did in the days of the Apostles. With the sole exception of the 
Jews, however, the nations by whom Hebrew was spoken have either passed away from the face of the 
earth, or have become amalgamated with other races. 

The number of Jews now dispersed throughout the world is generally estimated at about 
4,000,000; of these there are only 175,000 in Palestine and Syria. In England there are 30,000 
Jews, of whom 20,000 reside in London; but they are still more numerous in some parts of continental 
Europe: at Warsaw, for instance, they form one-fourth part of the population. In the following 
graphical description of the present state of the Jews, by Professor Gaussen, it will be perceived that 
the statistical calculations are founded upon different data from those above adduced. " The restless 
feet of God's ancient people are pressing at this very hour the snows of Siberia, and the burning sands 
of the desert. Our friend Gobat found numbers of them in the elevated plains of Abyssinia, eighteen 
hundred miles to the south of Cairo; and when Denham and Clapperton, the first travellers that 
ventured across the great Sahara, arrived on the banks of the lake Tchad, they also found that the 
wandering Jew had preceded them there by many a long year. When the Portuguese settled in the 
Indian Peninsula, they found three distinct classes of Jews; and when the English lately took pos- 
session of Aden in the south of Arabia, the Jews were more in number there than the Gentiles. By 
a census taken within the last few months in Russia, they amount to 2,200,000; so that their popu- 
lation in that immense empire exceeds that of our twenty-two cantons. Morocco contains 300,000, 
and Tunis 150,000. In the one small town of Sana, the capital of Arabia Felix, they assemble together 



24 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Cxass II. 

in eighteen synagogues. Yemen counts 200,000; the Turkish empire 200,000, of which Constan- 
tinople alone contains 80,000. At Brody, where the Christians, who are 10,000 in number, have only 
three churches, the Jews, 20,000 in number, have 150 synagogues. Hungary has 300,000. Cracow, 
22,000. In a word, it is imagined that, were all the Jews assembled together, they would form a 
population of 7,000,000; so that, could you transport them into the land of their fathers this very year, 
they would form a nation more powerful and more numerous than our Switzerland." 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Whether Hebrew was or was not the primeval tongue of the human race has been the subject of 
much discussion, and is a question which, with our present means of knowledge, it is impossible to 
resolve satisfactorily. Certain it is, however, that the Hebrew language bears many internal marks 
of antiquity. The majority of Hebrew words, for instance, are descriptive; that is, they specify the 
prominent or distinguishing quality of the person, animal, place, or thing, which they designate: and 
the vocabulary, though comparatively poor in abstract and metaphysical terms, is rich in words having 
immediate reference to those objects of sense with which a nomadic people might be supposed to be 
most conversant. Thus, there are no less than 250 distinct botanical terms in the Old Testament; and 
synonymous forms of expression for the common actions and occurrences of life are numerous and 
varied. Among these synomymes haA^e been counted no less than fourteen different words of which 
each signifies "to break;" there are ten words answering to the verb "to seek;" nine express "the act of 
dying," fourteen convey " the idea of trust in God," nine signify "remission of sins," and eight denote 
" darkness ; " and to express " the observance of the laws of God" there are no less than twenty-five phrases. 

The language appears to have attained its utmost possible development at a very early period, and 
to have remained subsequently for ages in the same stage, without progression or retrogression. This 
is seen by comparing the books of the Pentateuch with those of the latter prophets: the latter 
differ from the former only bv the disuse of a few words, which in the course of centuries had become 
obsolete, and by the introduction of sundry terms which had been engrafted on the language by inter- 
course with the Assyrians and Babylonians: there are, however, 268 verses of pure Chaldee in the Old 
Testament. A certain stiffness of construction, joined to great energy and simplicity, appears to be the 
most prominent feature of Hebrew, and of the cognate Shemitic dialects in general. The fundamental 
structure of those dialects bears the impress, if we may so speak, of premeditation and design. Unlike 
all other idioms, the roots or elementary words are in general dissyllabic and triliteral, while many of 
them appear in a more ancient monosyllabic form. They are for the most part the third person 
singular, preterite tense, active voice of the verb, and seem to have been originally framed for the 
express purpose of representing ideas in the simplest possible form ; while the application of these ideas 
to denote the varied circumstances of life (such as time past, present, or future, personal agency, 
passion, or feeling), is effected generally by mere changes of the vowels placed above, within, or below, 
the letters of the root. For instance, 1y? expresses a simple fact — " he learned," but 18? denotes an 
additional circumstance, viz. : that he learned diligently : so "D"n he spake, by the simple change of a 
vowel sign "Oft comes to denote the thing spoken, that is, a word. Besides the vowels, a certain set 
of consonants, set aside for the office of sometimes modifying the meaning of the roots, are called 
Serviles ; and, in common with the Arabic only, of all the Shemitic dialects, the Hebrew has the 
definite article for the better determining of nouns. With respect to the alphabetical system of 
the Hebrews, it has generally been the custom to attribute the introduction of the square character 
to Ezra; and the vowel-points, which were added gradually, as the Hebrew language ceased to be 
generally spoken and well known, were finally determined towards the sixth century after Christ, by 
the school of Tiberias. This was a timely interposition of God's providence, to rescue the Hebrew 
text from much misinterpretation, — if it had been handed down without points, — when its language 
was dead and little known. It has lately, however, been shown that the square characters were not 
brought to perfection till probably two or three centuries after the Christian era. Kopp (in his Bilder 



Class II.] HEBREW. 25 

find Schriften der Vorzeit) traces the gradual formation of these characters from the inscriptions on the 
bricks at Babylon, down through the Phoenician or Samaritan letters on the Maccabean coins, and 
thence to the Palmyrene inscriptions found among the ruins of Palmyra; and Gesenius, in the last 
edition of his Grammar, admits that the square, or modern Hebrew character, is descended from the 
Palmyrene. This opinion seems corroborated by the late discoveries of Mr. Layard in Babylonia; 
from whence he brought bowls of terra-cotta, probably dating from the captivity, and covered with 
Syriac and Chaldee inscriptions. Some of these characters are identical with the square ones now in 
use. The rabbinical style of writing now in use among the Jews is merely a cursive modification of 
the square character, adopted for ease and expedition. 

HI. — HISTORY OF THE HEBREW TEXT OF SCRIPTURE. 

From the first promulgation of the written Word, special provision seems to have been made for 
its careful preservation. (See Exod. 25. 21; 40. 20). A distinct command had reference to the 
place in which the book of the law was to be deposited ; namely, in the side of the Ark of the Covenant. 
(Deut. 31. 26.) The multiplication of copies also was provided for by a Divine decree, (see Deut. 
17. 18); and a copy of the law of Moses was made by Joshua. (See Jos. 8. 32.) On the erection of 
the Temple, Solomon caused the Ark to be brought " into the oracle of the house, to the most holy 
place, under the wings of the Cherubim ;" and from that period the books of Holy Writ were guarded 
within the walls of the sacred edifice, as is evident from such passages as 2 Kings 22. 8; 2 Chron. 
34. 14, &c. That these divine records did not fall into the hands of the enemy when the Jews were 
led away captive to Babylon, may be inferred from the fact that ia the list of the spoils carried away 
from the temple, detailed as that list is (see 2 Ki. 25, 2 Chron. 36, and Jer. 52), there is no mention 
whatever of the Sacred books. The captives, at the very moment that they were compelled to abandon 
the gold and silver of their temple, must have concealed and carried with them these most valued 
treasures; for Daniel, who wrote during the captivity, made distinct reference to two different parts 
of Scripture as documents well known to his countrymen (see Dan. 9); Ezra, when he went up from 
Babylon to Jerusalem, was " a ready scribe in the law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had 
given" (Ezra 7. 6); and immediately on the return from captivity, the people called for the book of 
the law of Moses, which was opened and read to them. (Neh. 8. 1.) The completion of the Canon 
of the Old Testament is referred to about the time of the finishing of the Second Temple; and there 
can be no doubt but that the inspired men who lived at that period, namely Malachi, the last of the 
Old Testament prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, Ezra, and Nehemiah, collected all the books that had 
been given by inspiration of God, and deposited them in the Temple. When the Temple and the city 
of Jerusalem were destroyed by the Romans, the characteristic faithfulness of the Jews to the sacred 
charge originally committed to them, remained the same. Some of the learned Jews opened schools 
in various parts of the East for the cultivation of Sacred literature ; one of these schools, established at 
Tiberias, at Sepphoris, and in other towns of Galilee, is mentioned by Jerome as existing in the early 
part of the fifth century ; another school of almost equal note was established at Babylon, and at both 
frequent transcriptions of the Scriptures were made. And the hand of Providence is to be traced in 
this multiplication of copies at different places and by distinct institutions, for the comparison of copies 
afterwards formed a ready mode for the correction of such errors as had crept in through the negligence 
of copyists. The most stringent laws, however, were in force among the Jews to ensure accuracy in 
their copies of the Scriptures ; the preparation of the parchment, of the ink, and even of the state of 
mind of the copyist, were all prescribed by rule ; and such has ever been their reverence for antiquity, 
that when in an ancient copy they have met with the accidental inversion or misplacing of a letter, 
or when one letter has been made larger than the rest or suspended above the line, they have scrupu- 
lously refrained from rectifying even what was so manifestly erroneous, under the superstitious notion 
that in the original formation and location of every letter some mystery is involved. Still further to 
ensure the perfect integrity of the text, the Jews at some period between the fourth and sixth century 



26 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

carefully collected into one book all the grammatical and critical remarks on the letter of Scripture that 
had been current at different times and places since the time of Ezra. To the volume thus formed, 
which in process of time became larger than the Bible itself, they gave the name of Masora, that is, 
tradition, because the criticisms it contained had been handed down by tradition from father to son. 
But besides being a collection of grammatical annotations, the Masora really was, as the Jews empha- 
tically styled it, " the hedge of the law," for it contains a multitude of the most minute calculations 
concerning the number of verses, lines, words, and letters, in the Sacred volume; so that the number 
of letters in every verse, and even the middle letter of every verse having been ascertained with some 
exactness, it was anticipated that no interpolation or omission in the text could for the future pass 
undetected. The further influence of the Septuagint and other ancient versions in securing the early 
copies of the Hebrew Scriptures from the possibility of corruption will be subsequently noticed. 

Eight particular copies seem to have been especially honoured among the Jews on account of 
their strict fidelity and accuracy, and to have been regularly used as standard texts from which all 
other copies were made. These eight copies were — 

1. The Codex of Hillel, an ancient MS. no longer in existence, but which was seen at Toledo in 
the twelfth century by the Babbi Kimchi. Babbi Zacuti, who lived about the end of the fifteenth 
century, declared that part of the MS. had been sold and sent to Africa. This copy contained the 
vowel points invented by the Masorites. 

2. The Babylonian Codex, supposed to contain the text as revised under the care of Babbi Ben 
Naphtali, President of the Academy at Babylon. 

3. The Codex of Israel, supposed to exhibit the text as corrected by Babbi Ben Asher, President 
of the above mentioned Academy at Tiberias; this MS. is imagined to have been the same as that of 
Jerusalem. 

Lastly, the remaining five Codices were, the Egyptian Codex, the MS. of Sinai containing only 
the Pentateuch, the Pentateuch of Jericho, the Codex of Sanbuki, and the book of Taygim. All the 
MSS. now in existence can be traced to one or other of these exemplars. The MSS. executed by the 
Jews in Spain follow the Codex of Hillel, and are more valued than those made in any other country, 
on account of their accuracy and the elegance with which they are written, the letters being perfectly 
square, and having the appearance of print. German MSS., on the contrary, are not elegantly written, 
and the characters are rudely formed, but they are valued on account of their containing readings 
coinciding with the Samaritan Pentateuch and the ancient versions. The Italian MSS. are neither so 
beautiful as the Spanish, nor so rude in appearance as the German, and they do not follow the Masora 
so closely as the former, nor deviate from it so frequently as the latter. 

Of the Hebrew MSS. now known to be in existence, the most ancient of which the date has been 
duly attested, is not much above seven hundred years old. It formerly belonged to Beuchlin, and is 
now preserved in the Library at Carlsruhe, whence it is familiarly known as the Codex Carlsruhensk : 
it is in square folio, its date is A.d. 1106, and its country is Spain. It contains the Prophets, with the 
Targum. There are two or three MSS. to which an earlier origin is assigned, but the date of their 
execution is very doubtful. There are only five or six MSS. extant which were made so early as the 
twelfth century; we have about fifty MSS. written in the thirteenth century, eighty in the fourteenth, 
and 110 in the fifteenth. The Jews who have been located for several centuries in the interior of 
China do not possess any MSS. of earlier date than the fifteenth century. The black Jews on the 
coast of Malabar, who are supposed to have emigrated to India about the time of the Jewish captivity, 
possessed a Hebrew MS. which was brought to England by Buchanan in 1806, and is now carefully 
preserved at Cambridge. It is a roll of goats' skins dyed red, and measures forty-eight feet long by 
twenty-two inches wide. It only contains part of the Pentateuch; Leviticus and a portion of Deute- 
ronomy are wanting. The text, with a few slight variations, accords with the Masoretic. As is the 
case with all the more ancient MSS., there is no division of words; an old rabbinical tradition says 
that the law was formerly one verse and one word. The division into verses is generally attributed to 



Class II.] HEBREW. 27 

the compilers of the Masora. The division into chapters is more recent, and was first adopted in the 
Latin Testament. A more ancient division of the Pentateuch was into parashioth, or greater and less 
sections for the regular reading in the synagogue; a division still retained by the Jews in the rolls of 
the Pentateuch. 

IV. — PRINTED EDITIONS OF THE HEBREW BIBLE. 

The first portion of the Hebrew Scriptures committed to the press was the Psalter, with the 
Commentary of Kabbi Kimchi; it appeared in 1477, but it is not certain at what place it was printed. 
In 1482 the Pentateuch was published at Bologna, and other parts of Scripture were subsequently 
printed at various places. But the first complete Bible that issued from the press was that printed in 
1488 at Soncino, a small town of Lombardy, between Cremona and Brescia. Copies of this edition 
are now so scarce that only nine are known to exist, one of which is in the Library of Exeter College, 
Oxford. It has points and accents, but from what MSS. it was printed is unknown. It formed the 
text of another edition, printed, with a few corrections, at Brescia in 1494. The printers of both 
these editions were of a family of German Jews who had settled at Soncino; they are noted for having 
been, in point of time, the first Hebrew printers. The Brescia edition is famous for having been that 
from which Luther made his translation of the Old Testament, and the identical volume used by him 
is still preserved in the Royal Library at Berlin. This edition forms one of the three standard texts 
from which all subsequent editions have been executed; the other two being the Hebrew text of the 
Complutensian Polyglot (published 1514-17, and for which seven MSS. were consulted), and the 
second edition of Bomberg's Bible. Bomberg printed in all five editions, of which the first appeared 
at Venice in 1518; but the second edition, published at Venice 1525—26, is the most valued on 
account of its superior correctness, and its text still forms the basis of modern printed Bibles. It is 
pointed according to the Masoretic system, and was printed from the text of the Brescia edition, 
corrected by reference to some Spanish MSS., under the care of Rabbi Ben Chajim, a Jew of profound 
acquaintance with the Masora and rabbinical erudition. 

All the editions above mentioned were executed by Jews or Jewish converts. The first Hebrew 
Bible published by a Gentile, was that printed in 1534-35 at Basle, with a Latin translation in a 
parallel column, by Munster, a learned German; in a second edition, published 1536, he introduced 
critical annotations and portions of the Masora : he used the Brescia edition of 1494 as his text, but 
seems to have consulted Bomberg's Bible and several MSS. In 1569-72 the Hebrew text of the 
Antwerp Polyglot was published ; it is compounded of the Complutensian text, and that of the second 
edition of Bomberg's Bible. The next most celebrated editions, in point of time, of the Hebrew Bible 
were those of Buxtorf : he published an 8vo. edition at Basle in 1619, and his great Rabbinical Bible 
(so called because accompanied by the Masora and the Commentaries of five Jewish rabbis) appeared 
in 1618-20. 

About this period the Samaritan Pentateuch was first introduced into Europe, and a new era 
commenced in the history of Hebrew criticism. Hitherto both Jews and Christians had rested secure 
in the supposed uniformity of Hebrew MSS. Origen, who, as will hereafter be shown, had certainly 
attempted to collate the Hebrew text with the Septuagint version, seems to have taken little or no 
pains in the comparison of Hebrew MSS.; and though in some of the editions of the Bible, as above 
mentioned, several MSS. had been consulted, a general and systematic collation of all the MSS. of the 
Old Testament had never been deemed requisite. Now, however, the attention of the learned was 
drawn to the variations between the Hebrew text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Septuagint 
version; the controversies thence arising happily led to the examination of the MSS. themselves, 
and the various readings there discovered were discussed by the same laws of criticism that had long 
been in force with respect to profane writings. Two most important critical editions of the Bible, 
published in 1661 and 1667 at Amsterdam, by Athias, a learned rabbi, were among the first fruits of 
these researches: the text was founded on MSS. as well as on a collation of previous printed editions, 



28 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

and one MS. was said to be 900 years old. So highly were the labours of Athias appreciated, that 
in testimony of public admiration, the States General of Holland presented him with a gold chain and 
medal appendant. Athias was the first editor who numbered the verses of the Hebrew Bible : every 
fifth verse had, in previous editions, been marked with a Hebrew numeral. His text, with some few 
alterations, was beautifully reprinted by Van der Hooght, in 1705, at Amsterdam; this edition is 
celebrated for its typographical elegance, and the clearness of the characters, especially of the vowel 
points. It has some few Masoretic notes in the margin, and a collation of various readings from 
printed editions at the end. It was reprinted in London 1811-12, under the editorship of Mr. Frey. 
Among other reprints of Van der Hooght's text, with corrections by various editors, the splendid 
edition of Houbigant appeared at Paris in 1753. In this edition the text is divested of vowel points, 
all Masoretic appendages are omitted, and several readings from the Samaritan are inserted in the 
margin of the Pentateuch. 

In the same year that Houbigant printed his edition, Kennicott published his first dissertation on 
the state of the Hebrew text, in which he clearly demonstrated the necessity of collating all the MSS. 
of Scripture that were known to be yet extant. To defray the expense of so important an under- 
taking, a large subscription, headed by George III., was raised in England, and the work of collation, 
commenced by Kennicott and his coadjutors in 1760, continued till 1769. Kennicott collated 250 
MSS. with his own hand, (most of which, however, were only examined in select places), and the total 
number collated by him and under his direction was about 600. In 1776-80 he published a splendid 
edition of Van der Hooght's text at Oxford, with various readings collected from Hebrew and 
Samaritan MSS., from printed editions, and from the quotations of the Bible occurring in the works 
of ancient rabbinical writings, and especially in the Talmud, the text of which belongs to the third 
century. An important supplement to this great work was published by M. de Rossi at Parma, 
1784-87, consisting of additional readings from Hebrew MSS. and other sources. De Rossi added a 
volume of Scholia Critica in 1798. 

Up to the present moment about 1300 Hebrew MSS. have been collated in whole or in part; but 
each MS. very rarely contains the whole Bible, some being confined to the Pentateuch, others to the 
Prophets, while others comprise but a single book. It is a remarkable fact, and a proof of the con- 
tinued interposition of, Divine Providence, that after all the laborious researches that have been made 
among MSS. belonging to different centuries and to various countries, not a single reading has yet 
been detected which affects the power of any one doctrine, precept, or consolation, contained in that 
Holy Volume, which has been received during so many ages by Jews and Christians as the Word of 
God. Discrepancies to the amount of several thousands exist in different MSS. as to the insertion or 
omission of a letter, the use or rejection of a synonymous term, and similar minor details; nor are these 
without their use, for it is obvious that such errata, though they affect only the orthography or mere 
diction of the text, subserve the double purpose of aiding in the grammatical elucidation of certain 
difficult passages, and of proving the general integrity of the Sacred Canon. Van der Hooght's text, 
with which all Hebrew MSS. hitherto collated have been compared by Kennicott and others, is 
esteemed the most correct of the printed editions: the typographical and other errors which encum- 
bered the first editions have been removed by Hahn and later editors, and it now forms our Textus 
Reeeptus. It is not, however, appreciated by some of the Jews, merely on account of Roman figures 
and sundry marks in the margin which have appeared in the editions of this text. To meet their 
prejudices, the London Society for the Conversion of the Jews caused an edition to be printed imme- 
diately from the text of Athias as exhibited in his second edition of 1667, and which is the edition 
most prized by the Jews. The Society's Bible was edited by Judah D'Allemand, and published in 
London in 1828; and special evidences of the blessing of God upon the Old Testament Scriptures, in 
preparing the minds of his ancient people for the fuller revelation of the New Testament, are to be 
found in the Reports of the Society. 



Class II.] 



HEBREW, AS A TRANSLATION. 



29 



HEBREW, AS A TRANSLATION. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14* 



Greenfield's version. 

-nx nn wni • wn n^n nnfcna 

TT TT~: TT- TT * ": 

T T T T - T T • " • VS T 

3 • nTO Vrsi *?3n t D^nSxrrnx n^&nn 
nate n^n *6 nnx Da pis nsAaw 

v -: T T TV ■ I * T T : - * 

4 nia vn D w nm • vn c w n is : nna 

5 ^nrn ♦ -wn ^ns itetrn : mstn 

6 nxft rrfetf tfw w t nap kn ink 
7 tj£> xa tfin t janr toBh • on% 

t Vra bb wax* M&S ♦ nixn-Sy tsht 1 ? 

t: •-:-!--: t - • t : 

8 t»* roi&S dk *a ♦ nixn m kn wn 

* T I - - : • " T T T 

9 vmn nmn nix n*n sin : nixn-ntf 

• — - V VI T T T T 

10 rrn oniya : taniya xan B*arW? 

TT TT TT TT • T : 

: h*3n xn Q^iyni ♦ rra rrnj cniyni 

■ ■ tt: t: t i ■ tt: 

11 xn ink ib-iaw ♦ in n^x nx xa x^n 
l2 |ib^ }na nrh vhsp neto : nap 

13 n^/x : iwa D^ax&S D^nnx *» nvrr? 
xni * nb>an mxn& xni • owo xn 

: tt- --.-. . • t * 

14 wrn : rta trrinxa cx-^ b»x *-nx&fc 
♦iniaa-nx nxnai ♦ «3ina pBh n*n nba 1 ? 
: naxi ion xn& • axn Yn*n niaa3 



SOCIETY s version. 



n^x Yn nanni nann yh n^xna 

.... T T T T - : t t - t t • » : 

Yn tfin :D*rinxn Yn nanni dtiWi* 

t t v: t t t t t - : vj It 

Yna narna tia^rinxn bm rY#xna 3 

t : • t t t v: t v •* * •■ : 

♦ n»m n^x nan Ynj xn rnynaibi ia 

t : • v -: t t t : • t^t : - * 

:iznxn nix vn o*hm D»n yn ia 4 

ttt t •--: • - t 

s nnW» xS n^nY naa n^na nixY 5 
: pnv tow t^nnx nxa rnW B»x w 
\y%b nixn-ny Yyn 1 ? ^ K ? *° n7 
n^n xS nr : i-rSy cab «*2»?» 8 

T T V T r - T \ • -. - 

.. T T : .... . . - : T t t t 

iY-ny onitrn n^n sniya tc^iyn 10 

T 1 T ^ T: tt t*^t t^t 

xa N;^n : ijrj* xS a^iyni n^n: u 
:ink rfeip xS in^Di in^D~Sx 
ni^n 1 ? rush jw ink 6|p n^x nW'pi 12 

xS "I^X JtofS B*J*fiNS^ Q'n^ ^3 13 

n^n nnnni : ri?\a Q^h^rcai ^3 "oa M 

t t t t - : t •■.•:•* v v 

ini33-nx ntf% «3ina pm n^ 
jnaxi non xb% wh th» niaaa 



I. HEBREW VERSIONS OP THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

We have no certain information concerning the translation of any portion of the New Testament into 
the language of the Old Testament Scriptures prior to the year 1537, when the Gospel of St. Matthew 
was published in Hebrew by Sebastian Munster, at Basle. Great attention was excited by this book 
at the time of its appearance, on account of an ancient tradition which prevailed in the Church that 
St. Matthew originally wrote his Gospel in Hebrew. It was very evident, however, that Munster's 
publication had no pretensions to be regarded as the text of the sacred original, nor even as an ancient 

* By Mr. William Greenfield, and of the Version executed for the Society for Promoting Christianity 

among the Jews. 



30 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

version, for the language in which it was written was not the Syro-Chaldaic current in Palestine at the 
time of our Lord, but the rabbinical Hebrew in use among the Jews of the twelfth century; it was, 
moreover, full of solecisms and barbarisms, and bore indubitable marks of having been translated either 
directly from the Vulgate, or from an Italian version of the Vulgate. The translation was probably 
made by an unconverted Jew, at some period subsequent to the twelfth century. In an Apology for 
this work, dedicated to Henry VIII. of England, Munster states that the MS. from which he printed 
was defective in several passages, and that he was compelled to supply the omissions as he best could 
from his own resources. This circumstance may serve partly to account for the errors which abound 
in the work. It passed through several editions, and a Hebrew, version of the Epistle to the Hebrews 
was appended to it. Another edition of the same translation of St. Matthew, but printed from a more 
complete and correct MS. brought for the purpose from Italy, was published by Tillet, Bishop of 
St. Brieux, at Paris, in 1555, with a Latin version by Mercerus. 

A translation of the four Gospels into biblical Hebrew was made by Joannes Baptista Jonas, 
a converted Jew, and Professor of Hebrew at the University of Rome : he dedicated it to Pope 
Clement IX., and it was published at Rome in 1668, at the expense of the Congregation de Propaganda 
Fide. The first translation of the entire New Testament into Hebrew was made by Elias Hutter, 
a Protestant divine, born at Ulm in 1553. He was Professor of Hebrew at Leipsic, and first dis- 
tinguished himself by his ingenious plan of printing a Hebrew Bible, in which he had the radical 
letters struck off with solid and black, and the servile with hollow and white types, while the quiescents 
were executed in smaller characters, and placed above the line ; thus exhibiting at a glance the root or 
elementary principle of each word. Hutter 's success in this undertaking led him to project a Polyglot 
Bible: he commenced with the New Testament, but found himself utterly at a loss for want of a 
Hebrew version. He therefore determined upon supplying the deficiency himself, and in the course 
of one twelvemonth he produced a translation of the New Testament. He then proceeded with his 
original design, and completed his Polyglot Testament in twelve languages, at Nuremberg, in 1600. 
This Hebrew version was afterwards detached from the Polyglot, and repeatedly printed. In 1661, it 
was revised and published in London, in 8vo., under the superintendence of William Robertson; but 
the greater part of this edition was consumed in the fire of London, 1666, so that copies are now 
rarely to be met with. Another edition, but in 12mo., was published in London in 1798, by the 
Rev. Richard Caddick, B.A., for the benefit of the Jews. It became, however, apparent that this 
version, although entitled to some measure of commendation in consideration of the short time in which 
it was executed, is unsuitable for general circulation. The Jews were prejudiced against it on account 
of its not being in pure biblical Hebrew: they objected to the frequent introduction of rabbinical 
words, and it was proved to be full of grammatical inaccuracies and solecisms. It had no sooner, 
therefore, been brought into use, than a new translation became a desideratum. In the meantime 
Dr. Buchanan brought from India a translation of the New Testament, executed in Travancore, 
among the Jews of that country, to whom allusion has been made above : the translator was a learned 
rabbi. The MS. was written in the small rabbinical or Jerusalem character; the style is elegant and 
flowing, and tolerably faithful to the text. Dr. Buchanan deposited the MS. in the University Library 
at Cambridge; but it was previously transcribed by Mr. Yeates, of Cambridge, in the square Hebrew 
character. A copy was presented to the London Society for the Conversion of the Jews, and it was 
at one time thought that it would greatly promote the object of the Society to print and circulate the 
production of a Jew so evidently master of his own ancient language. 

After much deliberation, however, a more strictly literal translation was still deemed desirable; 
and accordingly, in 1816, Mr. Frey and other learned Hebraists executed, under the patronage of the 
Jews' Society, a new version of the New Testament. In 1818, nearly 3500 copies left the Society's 
press, and this edition was speedily followed by another issue. The British and Foreign Bible Society 
assisted materially in this work, by purchasing at various times to a large amount. After this version 
had been in circulation some time, complaints from Hebrew readers in various parts of the world were 







i i I i J I I r—r 



I. J I I f -^ 



T 



Class II.] EARLY DIFFUSION OF HEBREW. 31 

laid before the Jews' Society Committee, concerning the rendering of certain passages. To ensure 
minute accuracy, the Committee determined on a thorough revision. They consulted some of the 
most eminent men in Europe, and Professor Gesenius was recommended to them as the first Hebrew 
scholar of the age. To him, therefore, they confided their version, requesting from him a critique 
upon it, and suggestions as to alterations. Gesenius went carefully through the work as far as the 
Acts, and likewise through the book of Eevelation, when his numerous engagements compelled him to 
resign the task. The work, with all Gesenius's notes, was then transferred by the Jews' Committee to 
Dr. Neumann, a converted Jew, lecturer on Hebrew at the University of Breslau. Dr. Neumann 
commenced the work anew, and his revision, when completed, was acknowledged to bear the stamp of 
" diligence, accuracy, zeal, and profound scholarship." The limited funds of the Society, however, 
prevented them from giving this valuable revision to the public, and it therefore remained some time 
in MS. At this very period the publisher of the Modern Polyglot Bible (Mr. Bagster) requiring a 
Hebrew version of the New Testament for the Polyglot, applied to the Society for the Conversion of 
the Jews for the critical emendations they had been amassing: the important notes of Gesenius and 
Neumann were in consequence handed to him, and were incorporated in the new version executed for 
the Polyglot by Mr. Greenfield, and published in 1831. In 1839 the Society issued an edition of 
5000 copies of another version, executed by the Eev. Dr. M'Caid, Eev. M. S. Alexander, Kev. J. C. 
Eeichardt, and Mr. S. Hoga. This work, a specimen of which accompanies this memoir, was after- 
wards stereotyped, and is the version now circulated by the Society. 

II. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

In the Eeports of the Society for the Conversion of the Jews, are many affecting and well- 
authenticated instances of the Divine blessing having attended the perusal of the Hebrew New Testa- 
ment. One fact in connection with this subject requires notice here, as showing the power of the New 
Testament over the heart of a Jew. The learned rabbi, mentioned above as the translator of the 
Travancore Testament, engaged in the work solely with the design of confuting Christianity. That 
his triumph might be more complete, he endeavoured in his translation to keep as near to the original 
as possible, for he never doubted but that with his scholarship and logical abilities he would find it 
easy to refute the statements of the text. By the time, however, that he had gone through the life of 
Jesus, his confidence was shaken, and as if afraid, says Dr. Buchanan, of the converting power of his 
own translation, he inserted a paragraph at the close of the Gospels, in which he took heaven and 
earth to witness that he had undertaken the work with the express design of opposing the Epicureans, 
as he termed the Christians. A cloud hangs over his subsequent history; but there are abundant 
reasons for believing that he fell a martyr to the bigotry of his people, and that, after embracing the 
religion of Jesus, he sealed his testimony with his blood. 



THE EARLY DIFFUSION OF THE HEBREW LANGUAGE, 

THROUGH THE PHOENICIAN COLONIES, etc. 

An opinion has very commonly prevailed, that the Hebrew Language, in which God was pleased 
to make known the revelation of His will in the Old Testament Scriptures, was at all times confined 
within very narrow limits; so that just as God did in ancient times choose one people as the depositary 
of His Scriptures, the language which they used, and in which those Scriptures were written, was 
confined almost entirely to them. 



32 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

Indeed so fully has this opinion prevailed, that a contrast has been frequently drawn between the 
New Testament written in Greek, then the most diffused language of the civilised earth, as intended 
for the instruction of men without restriction as to nation, and the Old Testament written in Hebrew 
for one ■people. 

The object of the accompanying Map is to show how considerably this opinion ought to be 
modified: the facts which must be considered are these — 

• I. That the Phoenician Language was essentially identical with the Hebrew. 

II. That the Phoenician Colonies had in early times diffused the knowledge of this language over 
a considerable portion of the earth. 

III. That even in countries in which the Ph<enicio-Hebraic had not become vernacular, yet 
through commerce it had become more or less used as a medium of intercourse. 

I. The substantial identity of the language of the Phoenicians with the Hebrew is proved by the 
fact, that all the names of persons and places in the land of Canaan are pure Hebrew. The Phoeni- 
cians were but a portion of the Canaanites, speaking of course the same language. This identity is 
manifest in the days of Abraham, for we then find the names of Abimelech, Melchisedek, etc., which 
are pure Hebrew compounds : nor can it be thought that the inspired historian has translated these 
names with the language used by Abraham, for, in the same narrative, the Egyptian Pharaoh is given 
without any such translation. At a later period the proof of this identity of language becomes more 
extensive, although not more certain: when the Israelites took possession of the land of Canaan, the 
names of the cities and districts were all of them terms purely and simply Hebrew. It is not to 
be overlooked that the names of the Phoenician cities Tyre, Sidon, etc. are all Hebrew, the same as 
the rest ; the names also of Phoenicians who are at all mentioned in the Old Testament are Hebrew. 

This fact is farther illustrated by the Coins of Tyre and Sidon, collected and published by 
Gesenius in his " Monumenta Phoenicia;" the inscriptions on these coins prove • the language to have 
been essentially Hebrew. 

II. It is well known that in early times the Phoenician colonies were widely diffused; (the coun- 
tries in which they were found will be stated below). Did then these colonies use the Hebrew lan- 
guage, or did they adopt the languages of the countries in which they had settled? 

Happily, for a satisfactory reply to this question, we are not left to form our own conclusions 
irrespective of evidence : the antecedent probability may be very strong, but we possess the sure 
ground of testimony. With regard to many or most of the countries colonized by the Phoenicians, we 
possess certain monuments in the coins and inscriptions which are still extant, which have been pub- 
lished by Gesenius in his important work to which reference has already been made. 

If, however, there be colonies from Phoenicia with regard to which we do not possess this 
certainty of testimony, yet we may be pretty certain that the same language was retained by them, 
as by the colonies of which we are more accurately informed. 

III. How far the wide-spread commerce of the Phoenicians was a means of diffusing their lan- 
guage, we have no precise evidence. We do, however, know that in Greece and Egypt there have 
been inscriptions found in the Phoenician language and character, and we have other proofs that some 
use at least was made of this language. Prior to the time of Xerxes, almost all international com- 
munication by sea was in the hands of the Phoenicians; and as such intercourse did exist, it is manifest 
that the language of the Phoenicians was in a great measure brought into contact with all the people 
of the coasts of the Mediterranean, etc. 

Phoenicia. — The district occupied by the Phoenicians appears to have been a strip of land lying 
between the mountains of Syria and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. The southern part of 
the country which they at one time actually occupied was included in the land which had been pre- 
viously allotted to Israel, but into which the Phoenicians spread themselves. The Phosnician territory 



Coins witli Phoenician legends. 



Class II.] EARLY DIFFUSION OF HEBREW. 33 

must at times have extended as far south as Acre (Accho or Ptolemais), and as far north as Aradus, 
at least. 

There are yet existing coins of the following Phoenician cities, with inscriptions in their own 
language and character: — 

Tyre — with Greek and Phoenician legends on the same coin. 
SlDON — with Phoenician only; also Greek and Pnoenician. 
ACCHO (Ptolemais) — Greek and Phoenician. 
Laodicea (near Lebanon) — Greek and Phoenician. 
Marathus 
Aradus 
Berttus 
Carne 

The Greek inscriptions on so many of these coins prove that the Phoenician language was still 
retained and used while the people were under Greek dominion. 

Phoenician Colonies — Cilicia. — The Phoenician origin of the Cilicians was a fact known 
to the Greeks : the Cilician coins struck under the Persian dominion fully attest the same fact. The 
Phoenician coins of Cilicia have been transmitted in great numbers to modern times: they have been 
found in many and widely distant countries; some have been met with even in India. Many of these 
coins belong to Tarsus ; it is uncertain to what cities others of them belong. 

Cyprus. — The Phoenicians are well known to have planted colonies in the island of Cyprus. 
More than thirty inscriptions found at ClTlUM, in that island, are in existence; they prove the reten- 
tion of the Phoenician language by the colonists. 

There are proofs that from Cyprus and Cilicia the Phoenicians spread into different parts of Asia 
Minor; they probably occupied stations on the coast for the purpose of traffic. It appears that a 
colony was planted in BlTHYNlA, probably direct from Phoenicia. 

The fact of a Phoenician colony having been located in Bceotia is well known : but the language 
does not appear to have been retained there or in the parts into which they are said to have spread 
themselves from Boeotia: the letters, however, were there introduced. 

Africa. — But the most important of the colonies of Phoenicia was that which occupied 
Carthage and the north of Africa, in many parts of Numidia and Mauritania, as far as the Straits 
of Gibraltar. The following are places in this region where Phoenician inscriptions have been found : — 
Carthage. 

Tugg-a or Tucca — a remarkable bi-linguar inscription, Punic and Libyan. 
In Numidia, several ; also the coins of Numidian kings. 
Tripoli — two, one of them bi-linguar, Latin and Punic; also coins. 
The Island of Gerbe. 
There are Phoenician coins extant of the following places : — 

ACHULLA, VACCA, SlGA. 

Sicily. — The knowledge which we possess of the Phoenicians in Sicily is familiar to all who 
have the slightest acquaintance with history. The coins of several Sicilian cities are proofs of the 
influence which the language gained in various parts of the island, and that, too, in places such as 
Syracuse, which were not actual colonies of Phoenicians, nor yet subject to Punic rule. 

There are extant many fine coins of — 

Panormus (Palermo), Heraclea, Syracuse, Motya, Cossara, 
bearing inscriptions in Phoenician. 

Melita. — In the island of Malta several Phoenician inscriptions confirm what we know from 
history as to its having been occupied by that people. 

Gaulos (Gozzo, near Malta). — Many coins are in existence bearing Phoenician inscriptions, which 
some ascribe to this island, and some to Malta. 



34 • SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

Sardinia received Phoenician colonies; traces of the Phoenician may be found in the Sard lan- 
guage still in use. A gem with a Phoenician inscription was found there, as well as an inscription. 

Spain. : — The Punic colonies in Spain, and their occupation of the southern part of that country 
and the adjoining islands, are well known. Tarshish, so often mentioned in Scripture, is considered 
on good grounds to have been Tartessus in Spain. 

There are Spanish coins extant with Phoenician legends of the following places : — 
Gades, Sexti, Abdera, Beltjs, Malaca. 1 

Cassiterides. — We know that the Phoenicians were intimately connected with the Cassiterides 
{Tin Islands); and as the only islands in the western ocean producing tin must point out the south- 
western coasts of Britain or adjacent islands, this name must have indicated either the Scilly Islands, 
or else the coast of Cornwall, or probably both. 

Here the Phoenicians had formed an emporium at a very early period. Tin was used in the 
formation of some of the furniture of the Tabernacle. Tin is mentioned by the earliest of classic 
writers; and as the ancients knew of no other tin but that of Cornwall, it is manifest how early must 
have been the Phoenician connection with this country. Indeed the ancients considered for ages that 
the Phoenicians were the only people who knew where these islands were situated. 

The countries with which the Phoenicians traded comprised most of the coasts of the then known 
world : that the Phoenician language was at least in some measure used as a medium of communication, 
is proved by the inscriptions which have been discovered at Athens and in Egypt. 2 

The eastern trade by the Red Sea must have been originally in the hands of the Israelites and 
Egyptians; the Phoenicians, however, were connected with them in this line of commerce. 

How far the diffusion of the language might have been accompanied by a knowledge of the 
written revelation of God, we have no means of ascertaining : one thing is certain, that it thus became 
POSSIBLE; and this may be coupled with the facts that seeming traces were found among many 
nations, of Scripture truths, and the Jews and early Christians alike ascribed this to knowledge 
borrowed in some manner from the Old Testament Scriptures prior to the version of the LXX. 

It may be a subject of interesting inquiry, What results may be deduced from the ascertained fact 
of the early wide diffusion of Hebrew: it is also worthy of examination, How far certain traces may 
be found of the use of the Scripture by the nations of antiquity ? It must at least be borne in mind, 
that the wide diffusion of the Phoenicians was contemporaneous with the period when most of the Old 
Testament was written. 

1 The Phoenician colonies acknowledged a certain dependence upon Tyre ; this was recognised by the offerings 
sent from Carthage, etc. to the altar of the Tyrian Hercules. The possession of Tyre may have been considered as 
bestowing a kind of superiority over the colonies. How far this was connected with actual power may be uncertain : 
nothing short of this appears to be recognised in the statements of Megasthenes with regard to the dominion of 
Nebuchadnezzar, whom he represents as having conquered and ruled not merely Tyre but also the whole line of 
Phoenician colonies even as far as Spain. This has been treated as an exaggeration : but even if it be, there appears 
to be at least a fact on which it is based. 

2 The Athenian inscriptions are accompanied also with Greek ; the monument called (from the place in Provence 
where it is preserved) the Stone of Carpentras is manifestly Egyptian. 

It must not be overlooked that the ancients unhesitatingly referred alphabetic writing to the Phoenicians as the 
first who had employed it ; this, at least, shows that they acknowledged the Phoenicians to be those from whom they 
had received this art. 



*** The sources from which this Memoir has been mostly compiled are the Bible, Gesenius's Monumenta 
Phoenicia, and Bochart's Canaan. Bochart had a great apprehension of the early diffusion of the Phoenician lan- 
guage, although he scarcely draws any conclusion therefrom in connection with the subject now considered. 



Class II.] SAMARITAN. 35 

SAMARITAN. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM WALTON'S POLYGLOT. EXODUS, Chap. xx. v. 1 to 17. 

• antAV2/t- a s • a*ZA • *?3m • m&Jt * : ^amaZ • imZA • stmza • za • Am • arrraZA ■ ZZta? * * 

• ma^p • Zv • arrmtv • arrraZA • aZ • sffrrem * aZ * * anrsav • Amaa • am^a • v\a • ^a 

• ^maa^? : vsza • 3v<\Aa°s? • ivi'n '• smiin^a ? • ?is a ? • za? ■ Z-^3 • az • °?avA • aZ * 

• Za • a*ZA • sranr • ma^A • AZ5t : ^"^^a • aZ? ■ ^?Z • ^I-Aa • aZ * : 3v<\aZ • v^za 

• <sav? * • mAi^Z * anrvnm • Zv? • amAAmZA • Zv? ■ arrfta • Zv • tag* • a?v • °SP2 • a^p 

• asZA : snnf • ;»*" • Am • Za-^/v • az * • m°?p?:> • mv&li ■ nrs^z • iarrnZAZ ■ °j^ 

• a?m • Am • «w * * — : : ^l^aZ • sea*** ■ art ■ Za-Am^ ■ Am : 3?3m • maA^m • aZ * AZ3 • ^ixs2 

• sAvma*" • =*:a?m? * * aA^mav • za • <^avA? • "ms^a • snfis?nr • aa*"* • s^^pZ ■ *A9"* 

• • • • aAaA? • a°?av • aA<\a? • a<\a? * 3 aa • s^mav • za • =ca • °?avA ■ az • asZA • 3?3mZ • ?ca*" 
: 3v<=\a • Am? • ^ma?"* • aot • rntm • ^av • ;ama?m • A 1 " 1 " • aZ^ * • airmpa ? • mvsnrr* 
- Afir • s?sm • a^a • ^a • Zv • svma*" * sterna ' 'e&A? ■ Iran • za - Am? ■ s;am • Am? 

• amia?m * ^?a<\Am • znrsaz • a^JA ■ Am? • a?aA • Am • <\p?a * * — : : =**"^p? • 3Aa^ * ;a?m 

• a^lA • aZ * : <\?ia * aZ * * Z^pa • aZ * : az • sam ' a=sZA : 5f?3m°? • 3v<\a • zv 

• aaa * ^js^a • AZ? • a<\a^ * Ama • t^^a • aZ * ■ sp 1 " ? • ?°sv^ • av\a • ^m^ a • aZ * 

— : : a^a^Z^ • Za? 1 seva^? • 3<\?a ■ 3a»a? ■ 3^av • 3Zpv : yvaxs 

I. — PREDOMINANCE OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Hebrew Language (in which the Samaritan Pentateuch is written) was predominant, as we 
have shown, in many countries of antiquity. It has long ceased to be the vernacular of Samaria, 
the inhabitants of which region now speak Arabic; but the Sacred books and liturgy belonging to the 
few remaining descendants of the ancient Samaritans are written in a dialect called the Samaritan, 
which has never spread beyond the limits of Samaria itself. The Samaritans have lost all political 
importance; they have dwindled down to a few families, and merely constitute a small religious 
sect. They dwell on the site of Shechem, their ancient capital and chief residence, now called 
Nablous or Nabulus, a corruption of the Greek word Neapolis, the new city. Two centuries ago, 
there were small Samaritan communities in Cairo, Gaza, and Damascus, as well as at JSablous. But 
in 1808, there had been no Samaritans in Egypt for more than a century, and they appear now to be 
confined solely to Nablous itself. Nablous, though of small size, is one of the most considerable places 
in the Holy Land at the present day, and contains a population of about eight thousand ; but not more 
than one hundred and fifty of the number are Samaritans; and in 1838, Dr. Robinson found there were 
only thirty adult males who paid taxes. They still go up three times a year to Mount Gerizim to 
worship. On Friday evenings they pray in their houses; and on Saturday (their Sabbath, which they 
keep with great strictness) have public prayers in their synagogue. They meet also in the synagogue 
on the great festivals, and on the new moons. 

ii. — languages or samaria. 

Up to the period when the ten tribes of Israel were carried away captive into Assyria, Hebrew 
was the language of Samaria. The characters employed by the ten tribes in writing Hebrew were, 
however, totally different from those now in use among the Jews. The Samaritan letters, as they are 
called, are closely allied to the Phoenician, and appear originally to have been employed by the whole 
Jewish nation; for the characters on the Maccabean coins are very similar to the Samaritan, and these 



36 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

coins, of which the series probably commences about 150 years before Christ, were struck by Simon, 
Jonathan, and other members of the Maccabean dynasty. But, unlike the other Shemitic dialects, 
the Samaritans adopt no vowel-points in writing; some of the letters answer the purpose of vowels. 

The mixed nature of the dialect which became predominant in Samaria on the removal of the 
ten tribes, may be inferred from 2 Kings 17. 24, where we are told that " the king of Assyria brought 
men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and 
placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel;" moreover, a Hebrew priest 
was appointed as the public teacher of religion to this mixed multitude, and hence, as might have 
been expected, a dialect partly Aramsean and partly Hebrew became, in process of time, the general 
medium of communication. Arabic being at present the language spoken in Samaria, this dialect has 
now no existence but in books; it is greatly venerated by the Samaritans, and they affirm that it is 
the true and original Hebrew in which the law was given, and that the language formerly spoken by 
the Jews was not Hebrew but Jewish. Implacable hatred has existed between the Jews and the 
Samaritans ever since the days of Darius Codomanus, when the Samaritans separated themselves 
from their Jewish brethren in faith and in ritual worship, under Manasseh, brother of the High Priest 
at Jerusalem. " Say we not well," said the Jews to Christ, " that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a 
devil?" This feeling shows itself on every opportunity; and never more so than on the subject of 
observances, the correct usage of which each party vindicates to themselves alone. 

III. — HISTORY OF THE HEBRiEO-SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH. 

The date, copyist, and origin of this transcript of the Hebrew Pentateuch are involved in inex- 
tricable mystery, yet after all the discussions that have taken place on the subject, the most probable" 
conjecture seems to be, that when the ten tribes under Jeroboam seceded from their alliance with 
Judah, they possessed this copy of the Pentateuch, which they ever afterwards carefully preserved, and 
transmitted to posterity. It is written throughout in pure Hebrew, and corresponds nearly word for 
word with our Hebrew Text, so that the mere acquaintance with the Samaritan characters is all that is 
requisite to enable a Hebrew scholar to read this ancient document. It is rather remarkable that in 
about two thousand places where the Samaritan differs from the Hebrew Text, it agrees with the Sep- 
tuagint, and among the various hypotheses that have been started to account for this circumstance, it 
seems most reasonable to suppose with Gesenius, that the Samaritan copy and the Septuagint version 
were both made from some ancient Hebrew codex which differed in a few minor particulars from the 
more modern Masoretic text. The variations of this Pentateuch do not, however, affect the force of 
any doctrine, the two chief discrepancies between the Samaritan and Hebrew texts being, the prolongation 
of the period between the deluge and the birth of Abraham in the Samaritan, and the substitution of 
the word Gerizim for Ebal in Deut. 27. In these cases it is impossible to say whether the Jews or 
the Samaritans were guilty of corrupting the original text. The Septuagint represents the contested 
period as even longer by some centuries than the Samaritan, and it is followed by the Roman Catholic 
Martyrology; but in the Latin Vulgate, the computation of the Hebrew text has been adopted. For 
instance, the date of the Deluge is according to 

the Samaritan Pentateuch, B.C. . . . 3044 

the Hebrew text . „ . . . 2348 

the Septuagint ,, . . . 3716 

The Samaritan epoch agrees best with two other important eras of the heathen world, viz: — ■ 

the Indian Deluge, and era of Kali-yuga B.C. . 3101 

and the Chinese Empire ,, . 3082 

These two dates added to the Samaritan date, 3044, and divided by 3, give B.C. 3070 as the 

probable date of the universal deluge. The chronology of the Samaritan has been vindicated by Dr. 

Hales, but generally, where various readings exist, the authority of the Hebrew is considered paramount. 

These occasional readings do not however diminish the value of the Samaritan Pentateuch as a witness 



Ciass II.] SAMARITAN. 37 

to the integrity of the Hebrew text. That the same facts and the same doctrines should be transmitted 
in almost precisely the same words from generation to generation by nations, between whom the most 
rooted antipathy and rivalry existed (as was notably the case between the Samaritans and the Jews), 
is a strong argument in proof of the authenticity of the books ascribed to Moses ; the purity of the text 
handed down to us through these two separate and independent channels may likewise be argued from 
the fact, that no collusion to alter passages in favour of their own prejudices is ever likely to have taken 
place between two such hostile nations. 

The Samaritan Pentateuch was studied by Eusebius, Jerome, and other fathers of the Church, 
and in their works several citations of the various readings existing between it and the Hebrew occur. 
Yet singular enough, this valuable text for about a thousand years was quite lost sight of by the 
learned, and it was unknown, and its very existence almost forgotten in Europe, when Scaliger, in the 
year 1559, suddenly instituted inquiries respecting it, and at his suggestion a negociation was opened 
by the learned men of Europe with the remnant of the Samaritans, for the purchase of copies of this 
Pentateuch. In 1616 Pietro della Valle effected the purchase of a complete copy, which was bought 
by De Sancy (afterwards Bishop of St. Malo), and sent by him in 1623 to the Library of the 
Oratory at Paris. In the meantime efforts were being made in England for the possession of copies, 
and between the years 1620 and 1630, Archbishop Usher obtained six MSS. from the East, of which 
some were complete and others not. Five of these MSS. are still preserved in England, but one copy 
which the Archbishop presented to L. de Dieu seems to have been lost. At various times other copies 
of the Samaritan Pentateuch have been since received in Europe, and there are in all about seventeen 
which have been critically examined; of these, six are in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and one in 
the Cottonian Library in the British Museum. They are all written either on parchment or on silk 
paper; there are no vowel points' or accents, and the whole Pentateuch, like the Hebrew text, is divided 
into sections for the service of the synagogue: but while the Samaritan has 966 of these divisions, the 
Hebrew has only about 52. Some of the MSS. have a date beneath the name of the copyist, deter- 
mining their age. The MS. belonging to the Oratory at Paris is supposed to have been written in the 
eleventh century; our other MSS. are more recent, except one attributed to the eighth century, but its 
date is very uncertain. The Samaritans themselves, however, ascribe extraordinary antiquity to their 
own copies; and Fisk says that the Kohen or Priest showed him a MS. which they pretended had been 
written by Abishua, great grandson of Aaron, thirteen years after the death of Moses : it was a roll, in 
some respects like the synagogue rolls of the Jews, and kept in a brass case. A copy in another brass 
case was affirmed to be 800 years old. Fisk observed a number of MSS. of the Pentateuch on a shelf 
in the Samaritan synagogue, and he says that besides the Pentateuch they have copies of the books of 
Joshua and Judges, but in separate volumes. They preserve under that name, not the same books 
of the Hebrew canon, but a compilation of their own, usually known as the " Chronicon Samaritanum," 
which contains documents collected from various sources, and brought down to the time of Hadrian. 
They hold no books for canonical, but the five books of Moses. 

The first printed edition of the Samaritan Pentateuch was made from the Codex Oratorii (i.e. the 
MS. belonging to the Oratory at Paris); it was printed by Father Morinus in the Paris Polyglot. 
This text was reprinted in the London Polyglot, with corrections from three of the MSS. which for- 
merly belonged to Usher; and so correct is this edition that a Samaritan priest whom Maundrell 
visited at Nablous, esteemed this Samaritan text equally with a MS. of his own, which he could not 
be prevailed on to part with at any price. Fisk when in Samaria saw a relict of the very copy of the 
Polyglot mentioned by Maundrell. Various readings collated from the Samaritan MSS. were given 
by Dr. Kennicott in his edition of the Hebrew Scriptures, as mentioned in page 28: and in 1790, 
Dr. Blayney published at Oxford the Samaritan Pentateuch from the text of the London Polyglot, in 
square Hebrew characters. The variations of the Samaritan text have likewise been published by 
Mr. Bagster. A Grammar of the Samaritan language, with Extracts and a Vocabulary, by Mr. G. F. 
Nicholls, was published by Messrs. Bagster, in 1858. 



38 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

IV. — HISTORY OF THE SAMARITAN VERSION. 

Three versions have been made of the Samaritan Pentateuch, two of which only are now extant. 
The first version was made from the Hebraso- Samaritan text into the Samaritan dialect, but the date 
and author are unknown : by some writers it is ascribed to the period when a Hebrew priest was sent 
by Esarhaddon to instruct the mixed multitude of Samaria in the service of God ; while others affirm 
that it was executed in the first or second century of the Christian era. This version is in the highest 
degree exact and literal; it is, in fact, a complete counterpart of the parent text. In some instances, 
however, its resemblance to the Chaldee Paraphrase of Onkelos is very striking, and there are no means 
of accounting for this singular agreement, unless we adopt the supposition that it fell into the hands 
of Onkelos, and that it was interpolated by him. It has been printed in the Paris and London Poly- 
glots; and in 1682, Cellarius published extracts from it with Latin annotations and a translation. Copious 
extracts are also given in Uhlemann's Institutiones Lingua? Samaritanee. 

When the Samaritan dialect fell into disuse, and the language of the Arabian conquerors became 
the vernacular of the country, the Samaritans had at first recourse to the Arabic version of Saadias 
Gaon, at that period in general use among the Jews. A translation into the Arabic language as spoken 
in Samaria, and written in Samaritan characters, was afterwards prepared by Abu Said. It is not 
known with certainty in what year this translation was made; Saadias Gaon died A.D. 942, and it 
must have been made subsequently to that period, as Abu Said made great use of that Jewish rabbi's 
labours. This version is remarkably close and literal, and follows the Samaritan even in those readings 
in which it differs from the Hebrew text. Several MSS. of this version still exist in libraries, but the 
whole has never been printed. A third version of the Samaritan Pentateuch was made into Greek, 
but this work, though quoted by the fathers, is no longer extant. The Samaritan and Arabic versions, 
from their noted fidelity, are of much value in correcting the text of the Samaritan Pentateuch, and 
in fact form almost the only sources for its emendation. 



C-LASS II.] 



CHALDEE. 39 



CHALDEE. 

SPECIMEN OE THE TAEGUM OE ONKELOS, EEOM WALTON'S POLYGLOT. 

EXODUS, Chap. xx. v. 1 to 17. 

»"irp-t& s • Kn-naj? rvao omen nj?tnd ■nnpsx «j -trbx » njn 2 : -i»»d^ |&.sn N'Diina-^a n* »' 792S 

/■•:« t it : - j- • m \r: * : jt -.- •• ■ j>t': « - j* 'a"™ it: vt -; it •• ; W ■ t jt-t : • t $~ t: j" - 

yita x s oa ni y-ita syisa hi N^yta N'ce'a «i rvibrboi b^x *A Taym6* j»ao"ia nniK nh^x ■n^ 

y - : * vt- : j* : a t : ■ \t;- ; r 1 r ••: • t-; • v : t: - ■• ■«■ ■■ T - t r ■ - \t—, jttvi 'j>t 

-Tr'py jm»-wa"^ inaK »ain -iyD» Mb ^k tjnta « kSn ,| tn i-nrrpan t6i rir6 *ii:iDm6 5 : Kjn&6 

t * I 3- t: I ■ : - 'it : - •* •=■ : - t '- j" »tt v: kt: t -; j— ; •/,*::• jt : ' v: y : • t 7t ;-; 

no&i <omi) jm •'d'pn 1 ? wto vayi « : |innnaK--ina •-tane^ twa-poWjrTa »wk^ -yavrrSyi 'jvbn 

/•• : t ; v.- -: -: ' A" t J" : — : v *• >*' r : ' 1 : t : - - t y v; v ; /r- : ■ • : - * - v- : t ; \r • : t - ; j- • : 

Knatjn Mn'r-n' 1 Ta*mn 8 :&opK^> nwa *d«i rv '» »a.*- t6 n« N33»b ■nnta »vk»b>3 *»»n ^7 jnipa 

vt ; - : yr - ;>• : •*-; it': • : v" : • J" " : 3" t: •■-; ^t a--; att - : Iwt ■■» jt - t : • 3- •• jt it ' • 

NFiTajr^ Taj?rr&6 "nrbx «-mp Knae> iW3K> xow 10 : ^"pay^a T>aym r\%n p»i* nw 9 J rPn-iK'ip^ 

t : • '„•; t •• ; - t 'att v: jt; t't: vt ; - t t • : t : 'it : • ••; t y" - : t : ■ ' • *t • ••■ t 1 -; 

m\-ni KjnK"Tn kw""JV ;» nay p»i» hpik> hk " : ^npa h •qnvji ^rVya-i ^inasi "^as? ^rna-i ijna-i ' fin 
$H3 "nr3N-n"i 'n-iaK-iv ip» k jn^npi xnac'i «D^1-n , » 'nna r'a-^y nNya^ Nova mi jifia H-^a-n ,| i 

•T 'at* -: • •* _ : " V**~ I" : 1- : vt : - ; jt - f>T; M"t l« ■ « A T T " : JT ; vt : I : j- t -; 

■niana n^nDn-N^ " : a'uan n^ 15 : wan-N^ 14 : a'aa Vitopn-Nb " : ^ an* ■anta »h Nyis-b 'nDi* j-iaiiH 

'vt: - : j" : ** t 1 : • rr ' 1 : it it: / ': ■ t 'it i-t 'wtv: jt - f :- - ' t 'j;; 

: ■nnan^ h Vai nnom pinim htidni nnayi •n J ian nnx n^onn n"? •nnan n»a T»nn n 1 ? » : snpK>T xn-nno 

'it: - : y» k. : "i -:- j" : ■• : - : *•• : -: It;- j- • •• : - jt 'at: - j" v : - jt it':' ; jt -;- 

The Aramasan or Syrian language appears from the earliest times to have been divided into two grand 
branches, namely, the West Aramsean or Syriac, which was the dialect spoken towards the West, in 
Syria and Mesopotamia; and the East Aramaean, generally denominated the Chaldee, which was spoken 
towards the East, in Babylonia, Assyria, and Chaldsea. But this division of the Aramaean language 
into two branches is rather geographical than philological, for with the exception perhaps of a few 
words and forms peculiar to each dialect and some variations in the vowels, no very great difference 
exists either in grammatical structure or lexicography, between Syriac and Chaldee. In general, how- 
ever, the vowels are pronounced broader in Syriac than in Chaldee; in Syriac the sound taking the 
place of that of A in Chaldee. Michaelis, indeed, has remarked, that the Chaldee of Daniel becomes 
Syriac if read by a German or Polish Jew. The chief point of distinction between the two dialects is, 
that Syriac is written in characters peculiar to itself, whereas the square characters, which are also 
appropriated to Hebrew, are employed in writing Chaldee. Down to the time of Abraham, Chaldee 
is supposed to have been almost, if not quite identical with Hebrew, and to have acquired subsequently 
the peculiarities of a distinct dialect. The dialect spoken in Chaldea was the original language of 
the Abrahamidse, for Abraham was called from " Ur of the Chaldees." And since " Ur" is to the 
north of Mesopotamia, and the " Chaldees or Chasdim" came originally from that part of the country, 
we may infer that the vernacular language of Abraham, whatever that may have been, was the lan- 
guage originally spoken between the Euphrates and the Tigris (Gen. 11. 31). Isaac and his family 
spoke Hebrew, which was the language of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned, and Hebrew con- 
tinued to be the language of their descendants till the time of the Babylonish captivity. 

During the seventy years passed at Babylon the dialect of the captives seems to have merged into, 
or to have become greatly adulterated with, that of their conquerors, and the great similarity in genius 
and structure between the two dialects naturally accelerated the effects of political causes in producing 
this admixture. On the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, it was the custom of the priests to read the 
law of Moses publicly to the people, and afterwards to give an exposition (see Neh. 8. 8, etc.). It is 
the opinion of many eminent scholars that the law was read as it stood in the original Hebrew, but 
explained in Chaldee, the only dialect then generally intelligible among the Jewish people. However 



40 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

this may have been, it is certain that at least as early as the Christian era, written expositions of 
Scripture in the Chaldee dialect were in circulation among the Jews; and the name of Targums, from 
a quadriliteral root signifying an explanation or version, was given to these Chaldee compositions. 

The most ancient Targum. now extant is that written by Onkelos, a disciple of Hillel, who died 
60 B.C. This Hillel is by some supposed to have been the grandfather of Gamaliel, Paul's instructor. 
In purity of style Onkelos equals the Chaldaic sections of Ezra and Daniel, and his fidelity to the 
Hebrew text, which he generally follows almost word for word, is so great, that he deserves to be 
looked upon as a translator, rather than as a paraphrast. No writings of his are extant except his 
Targum of the books of Moses, which has been printed with a Latin translation in the first volume of 
the London Polyglot; it is esteemed of much service in biblical criticism from the fact of its being 
supported, in passages where it differs from the Masoretic text, by other ancient versions. 

Besides the Targum of Onkelos, seven other expositions of Scripture in the same dialect, though 
greatly inferior in merit, are now known to be in existence. The Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel 
upon the greater and lesser Prophets is believed by some authors to have been written about 30 B.C. : 
though others assign it a later date; it abounds in allegories, and the style is diffuse and less pure than 
that of Onkelos. It conforms generally to the Masoretic text, but differs from it in some important 
passages. A Targum written by another Jonathan (hence called the Pseudo Jonathan) made its appear- 
ance at some period subsequent to the seventh century : the style is barbarous, and intermixed with 
Persian, Greek, and Latin words; it is confined to the Pentateuch, and generally follows the rabbinical 
interpretations, hence it is of no use in criticism. The Jerusalem Targum is also upon the Pentateuch ; 
but it is in a very mutilated state, whole verses being wanting and others transposed : it repeats the fables 
contained in the Pseudo Jonathan, and is written in the same impure style; by many, indeed, it is 
considered merely as the fragments of an ancient recension of the Pseudo Jonathan. The Targum of 
Joseph the Blind on the Hagiographa is also written in very corrupt Chaldee, and adulterated with 
words from other languages. The remaining Targums (on Esther and Canticles) are too puerile and 
too paraphrastic to be entitled to notice here. The first seven Targums are all printed in the London 
Polyglot; the eighth (on the Chronicles) was not known at the time of the publication of that work ; 
it was discovered in the Library at Cambridge, and published at Amsterdam in 1715. Beck had pre- 
viously published large fragments from an Erfurt MS., in 1680-81, at Augsburg. The great utility 
of the earlier Targums (for the later Targums are of little or no use), consists in their vindicating the 
genuineness of the Hebrew text, by proving that it was the same at the period the Targums were made, 
as it exists among us at the present day. The earlier Targums are also of importance in showing that 
the prophecies relating to the Messiah were understood by Jews in ancient times to bear the same 
interpretation that is now put upon them by Christians. And it must be added, that, in developing the 
customs and habits of the Jews, in exhibiting the aspect in which they viewed contested passages of 
Scripture, and in denoting the mode in which they made use of idioms, phrases, and peculiar forms 
of speech, considerable light is derived from the Targums in the study both of the Old and of the 
New Testament. 



Class II.] 



SYRIAC. 



41 



SYRIAC. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St, 



PESHTJIO VERSION. 
JK^2> OCTIO . J£^2> jbcn oCTloAyJ Ajv^u^S 
oCTIOJM JCTX^Jo ■. JCTL^, lA\, JoCTl 0CTI0A0J 

L*m->;.'> Jbcn wctioK-J JLJch . JJ^>^ ben Jbcn 
wcno£_^^=>o . Jbcn cnsjjLa "^o . Jcn.2§s Lq^ 
. Jbcn \s-L CTUs . Jbcn? p^ 'i.6cn Ji^, )J_2j 
bcno . J^JLi-JLi-rsj Jkncu ^bcrLiAyJ JJLI-o 
♦ cn_3$»J (J Job_«&^o •. ?cru_2o JuDQ-iB.^lca Jioioj 

*>• 9 ° 

. ^ i r.r> , cTViajft ; Jcn_ss ^20 »>^-«J? M-i;.^ Jocn 
. Jknoj ^^S >cn_mjj» lloxn pa N. JLJ JLJch 
Jocn ben (J . cnji>)La . ^b <cn-i «..«_L.is>5j 
<«>cnoAyJ . Jjcnbj '^^ ?6t.cqj» JJ) . Jkncu 
■ ~ i\^\ >cn_i_io» ,• J^^jaj J|cno_j ;_. i^C JOCTl 
J >^\ vr> . Jbcn Jln>N,s~i . JLsA.VS JLJj 
ctv^.£^ . cruSj; JJ J4>Nno . Jbcn cnjjJLs 
-j» v->^) • ^oia^aJS Jj cnX.K> . JIJ 
Juoiij jLL^b-a ^bcn^ «jscrij •. ocno^xoj 
. cti^la.2 ^jo^Qjcriioj ^~^)i • ^bocnJ JcnJSsj 
. ); m-^i Jj-^? ^5s JIo . JL:c» ^2> o^j ^x^J 
. o.J^LJ Jcrv^ r & J|J jZ^r, JLi^~ ^ JJo 

•• JLaJ ,j£>» JJ^j^aa_«» i+j) JJ^b_« . cnJlsb_» 
♦ JAosbjao JIo-sia^ JJjcj 



JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

PHIIOXENIAN VERSION. 

^.oioA-.] jA-Llco . |A \nq jooi woioA,) j --;'"' 
. j/Llio jooi wcnoA_] joi^o . ]cti^ Zol |ooi 
^g i \ "> . (oij^ Zol. Ja^^ jooi ^oioA*j \ioi 
.• jj-w jiaj Z.oai •. ooio, s \ *^>o . w ooi <-"! -| a 
( ■ »«o . jooi ^joioA_.| ) a »» olo . Zoai» ^jdi 

|5aiQ_JO •. l_« — i — o — j o> jiaio_i jooi ^.aioA_j 

•> w5>| JJ ou-\ (_3a_a_A(0 •. ;ou_io | "><-> «..<-> 

7 

^^iO JOUCJJ jlO.| )/r>;Qim\ j^,j ^j jj] . 1 .. n. 



u . 



*^0 "'^-"" r>rn\'->. 



•^U 



^s^lo jaimjj |n.j Pj . jjoio-j ooi jooi woioZu] 
oai . |^-»^Q ooi jioioj |ooi ^»aioA_.| •:• jjaioj 

) Vi \So \ jooi a\fJr^ I Vi\So •. jooi ^oioA.j 
oiX*> ^cuoio . JZ.J aiX*j , tNoi\ •:■ ^^. JJ olL 
tSau -. ■ ,oiQ 3 m i; — »j ^QJOi -. ^,ctic ^ r i> i jj 
ooou |ou^> |,.i O; |_i_£.^.a^ ^ooiX 



^QJOLil 



k: 



.• }iO>. - >D aXj ,CU01 . m\ .i )V)flO —nlVl.Ol^O; 

•. l^is^ U*^^ ^o Po .• i^ao, U*o^ ^io }Jo 
]ooi |;n'0 JAXlo ooio •:• o^^l 1°^ ^° Pi 

|aa^O* \ niV .; |*aOOcA. , 1 i^O . <_0 ^-xvjo 

JZ. Q o ■ ^ ^io )Lio> .• J_^l ^; U-j-^*-: ,-j 



I. — GEOGRAPHICAL PREDOMINANCE OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Syriac, also called the Aramasan language, from Aram, the Hebrew name of Syria, was once 
predominant over a very extensive territory, and a Hebraic dialect of Syriac is supposed to have been 
the language chiefly spoken in Palestine during the time of our Lord; but Arabic has completely sup- 
planted it as the vernacular of Syria and Mesopotamia, and it is now only spoken by a few obscure 
tribes in two or three confined districts. As an ecclesiastical language, however, it still retains its 
importance, and is used in the Jacobite and Nestorian Chui-ches of Syria. It has likewise been for 
ages the liturgical language of a remarkable people in India, who, during a period of about fourteen 
hundred years, have preserved the name of Christians in the midst of idolatrous nations. They dwell 
partly within the British territories, and partly in Cochin and Travancore, two states situated on the 



42 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

Malabar coast, towards the southern extremity of Hindoostan, and in political dependance upon Britain. 
In number they amount to 100,000; and although they have suffered severe persecutions from the Eoman 
Catholics, especially from the Inquisition of Goa, they still possess a regular hierarchy, and retain fifty- 
five of their ancient churches. They were converted to Christianity about the middle of the fifth cen- 
tury by the Syrian Mar Thomas, who has been confounded by the Portuguese with the Apostle 
St. Thomas. But prior even to the time of Mar Thomas the Christian religion had been established in 
India, for a Bishop from that country was present at the Council of Nice in A.D. 325. Yet, although 
the Syriac language was introduced with Christianity among the Malabar churches, Malayalim has con- 
tinued the vernacular of the country. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Although inferior to most of the other branches of the Shemitic class in point of copiousness and 
variety, the Syriac is of particular importance and utility to biblical students, on account of its close 
affinity with the Hebrew. Many words are common to both languages, and hence terms which occur 
but once, or of which the meaning may appear doubtful in the Hebrew Scriptures, often receive eluci- 
dation by reference to the mode in which they are used in the Syriac language. The roots of words 
in Syriac, as in the other Shemitic languages, are generally to be traced to the third person singular 
preterite of the first conjugation of verbs. But Syriac roots, while they resemble those of cognate 
dialects in consisting almost always of three, seldom of four letters, are perhaps oftener monosyllabic 
than in the cognate dialect; in triliteral roots the vowel being placed under the second letter, so as to 
form but one syllable. In grammatical structure Syriac is closely akin to Hebrew. The adjectives, as 
in Hebrew, are remarkably few in number, but their deficiency is supplied by other parts of speech, 
which take their place, and perform their office. The superlative degree is often formed by the dupli- 
cation of the positive. Pronouns are generally expressed by certain particles called affixes, placed at 
the end of nouns, verbs, or other particles, and with which they are so incorporated as to form but one 
word, as in other Shemitic languages. But there is in Syriac a double use of the pronoun; somewhat 
like the same peculiarity in the Coptic, Ethiopic, and Georgian languages. The system of conjugation 
is conducted upon the same plan as the Hebrew. Verbs expressing modification of a primary idea are 
connected in conjugation, and are considered to form collectively one entire and perfect verb. In 
Syriac there are eight forms of conjugations of verbs, of which four have an active, and four a passive, 
and sometimes a reciprocal signification. The alphabetical characters in Syriac are the same in number 
as the Hebrew, but differ considerably in form. The Estrangelo Syriac characters are evidently of the 
same origin as those on the inscriptions found at Tadmor or Palmyra. There are several MSS. extant 
written in this character, some of which are as ancient as the sixth century. The rectilinear character, 
that is, a character written with a continuous straight connecting line, is now commonly used in our 
printed Syriac books, and is a modification of the Estrangelo, bearing the same relation to it as the 
modern Greek and Latin characters do to the uncial. Another mode of writing Syriac, peculiar to a 
sect in Syria called Christians of St. John the Baptist, is the Zabian, Saba?an, or Mendsean; the conso- 
nants are formed in the usual way, but the vowels instead of being represented by points above and 
below the line, are denoted by strokes fastened to the letters, as in Ethiopic. 

III. — SYRIAC VERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 

Several very ancient Syriac versions are still extant, and are of considerable service in the eluci- 
dation of difficult passages of Scripture, because in time, place, and modes of thinking, the translators 
were closely approximated to the inspired writers. Of these versions the most ancient and the most 
important is called the Pcshito (signifying clear, literal, exact), on account of its strict fidelity to the 
text. The period at which this version was made has been much disputed : by some the translation of 
the Old Testament of this version has been referred to the age of Solomon, while various other 
traditions have ascribed the translation to Asa, priest of the Samaritans, and to the Apostle Thaddeus. 



Class II.] SYRIAC. 43 

Ephrem, the Syrian, who wrote in the middle of the fourth century of the Christian era, speaks of it 
as a work in general use, and there are reasons for believing that the whole version was completed by 
the close of the first or commencement of the second century; at any rate we have proof that it was in 
common use in the year 350 A.D. The disparity of style apparent in different parts of the version has 
led to the belief that several persons were engaged in its execution. The translation of the Old Testa- 
ment seems to have been made immediately from the Hebrew, but with occasional reference to the 
Septuagint and to the Chaldee Paraphrases. This version is more particularly valuable on account of 
its being more ancient than any Hebrew MS. now in existence. It contains all the canonical books of 
the Old Testament, but not the Apocrypha. The Peshito version of the New Testament was made 
from the original text, as appears from the frequent occurrence of Greek words ; the Greek codex used 
for the translation belonged to no known family of MSS., but many of the readings agree with the quota- 
tions from the Testament in the writings of the earlier fathers of the Church. It is rather singular that in 
all ancient MSS. of this version, four epistles, namely, the second epistle of Peter, the second and third 
of John, and that of Jude, and likewise the book of Revelation, are wanting; they also want the story 
of the woman taken in adultery, John 8, and 1 John 5. 7. Pococke found the four missing epistles 
in a MS. belonging to the Bodleian Library, and the younger Scaliger obtained possession of a MS. of 
the Revelation; the Epistles were published by Pococke in 1630, and the Apocalypse by De Dieu in 
1627: these have been ever since appended to the Peshito in printed editions, but evidently do not 
belong to that ancient version, being vastly inferior to it in point of purity, style, and fidelity. The 
Peshito version was not known in Europe till A.D. 1552, when Moses of Mardin was sent in the name 
of the Syrian Church to Rome, to acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope, and to request that an 
edition might be printed of their ancient Scriptures. The late Mr. Rich travelled in central Asia in 
search of ancient MSS.: he discovered in Assyria in all fifty-nine Syriac MSS., now deposited in the 
British Museum; they afford abundant evidence of the general integrity of our received text of the 
Peshito. 

Next in antiquity to the Peshito, but considerably inferior to it in elegance and accuracy of diction, 
if superior to it in servile literality, is the Philoxenian version, so called from having been executed 
under the auspices of Philoxenus, Bishop of Hierapolis in Syria, by Polycarp, A.D. 488 — 518. The 
Philoxenian version was revised and collated with Alexandrine MSS. by Thomas of Harclea, A.D. 616; 
and this revision was published by Professor White, at Oxford, in 1778. There are also three other 
ancient Syriac versions; namely, 1. The Karkuphensian, which is little more than a recension of the 
Peshito made towards the end of the tenth century by David, a Jacobite monk of Mesopotamia, for the 
especial use of the Monophysite, or Jacobite Christians. It derives its name either from a Syriac word 
signifying the head, and also the summit of a mountain (Karkupho), or from a town in Mesopotamia. 
2. The Palestine- Syriac, or Syrian translation of Jerusalem, of unknown date, of which the portions 
still extant, consisting of a greater part of the Gospels, are preserved in MS. in the Vatican Library. 
It was discovered, and a portion of the text edited, as a specimen, by Professor Adler, about the latter 
part of the eighteenth century. In language and written characters it differs from common Syriac, 
and approaches the dialect formerly spoken at Jerusalem. It is supposed to belong to the fifth 
century, and to have been made from the Greek text; its readings generally coincide with those of the 
Western recension. It is valued on account of its correctness, and Professor Scholz in his last edition 
of the New Testament has given readings from it. The story of the woman taken in adultery, which 
is wanting in the Peshito and the Philoxenian or Harclean, is found among the fragments of this 
version. 3. The Syro-Estrangelo, or Syriac- Hexaplar version, which is a translation of Origen's 
Hexaplar edition of the Septuagint; it was executed by an unknown author in the beginning of the 
seventh century, and closely adheres to the Septuagint throughout. The first portion of the Syriac 
Scriptures committed to the press was the Peshito New Testament, printed in quarto, at Vienna, 1555 : 
copies of this edition are now of considerable rarity. The entire Syriac Scriptures were inserted in 
Le Jay's Polyglot Bible in 1645, and in Walton's Polyglot, 1657- In 1667, iEgidius Gutbirius 



4± SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

published at Hamburgh an edition of the Syriac Testament, with a Lexicon, in one volume, 
12mo. 

When Dr. Buchanan, in 1806, visited the Syrian Christians in India, he found several important 
MSS. of great antiquity, which he brought with him to England. The last years of his useful and 
laborious life were devoted to the preparation of a printed edition from these MSS., and he died, so to 
speak, with the sheets of the Syriac Testament in his hands. A short time prior to his decease, he was 
walking with a friend in the churchyard at Clapham, and he entered into a minute account of the plan 
he had pursued in preparing the Syriac text. Suddenly he stopped and burst into tears: as soon as 
he had recovered his self-possession, he said to his friend — " Do not be alarmed, I am not ill, but I was 
completely overcome with the recollection of the delight with which I had engaged in the exercise. 
At first I was disposed to shrink from the task as irksome, and apprehended that I should find even 
the Scriptures pall by the frequency of this critical examination. But so far from it, every fresh 
perusal seemed to throw fresh light on the Word of God, and to convey additional joy and consolation 
to my mind." The four Gospels and Acts were printed, in 1815, at Broxbourne, in Hertfordshire, 
under the eye of Dr. Buchanan. At his death, the British and Foreign Bible Society, for whom the 
work had been originally undertaken, appointed Dr. Lee, of Queen's College, Cambridge, to complete 
the New Testament. This was the first introduction of this great orientalist to the Committee. 
Dr. Lee objected to Dr. Buchanan's omission of the vowel points, and to his use of the European, 
instead of the Syriac system of grammatical pronunciation; and upon these and other representations, 
the Bible Committee agreed that the whole work should be commenced anew under Dr. Lee's super- 
intendence, and that the Gospels and Acts edited by Dr. Buchanan should be cancelled. Dr. Lee 
adopted the very accurate text published by Leusden and Schaaf in 1717, as the standard text, and 
introduced emendations from various MSS. The New Testament left the press in 1816. In 1823, 
Dr. Lee edited the Syriac Old Testament, under the patronage of the Church Missionary, and at the 
expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. In preparing this work, he took the version of the 
Polyglots as his text, and collated the MS. brought by Dr. Buchanan from India, a MS. belonging to 
Dr. A. Clarke, and a MS. of the Pentateuch in the Library of New College, Oxford. In 1826 the 
Bible Society published an entire edition of the Syriac Scriptures, the Old Testament being from the 
text of 1823. In 1829, a Peshito New Testament, in 12mo., was edited by the late Mr. William 
Greenfield for the Publishers of this work, from the text of Widmansted, 1555, with the book of 
Revelation and the Epistles, described above as being wanting in the Peshito version, supplied, as in 
previous editions, from the publications of Pococke and De Dieu. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

Two great results have followed from the early, though limited, circulation of this version in 
India. First, the integrity of our Western copies of Scripture has been firmly established by the fact 
of their having been ascertained, on critical examination, to correspond in all important points with the 
ancient and independent MSS. that had for ages been buried, so to speak, in the East. Secondly, the 
assumptions of the Church of Rome as to the antiquity of her usages are clearly disproved, by the 
rejection of Romish dogmas and observances by a Church that was among the first to receive, and 
among the most zealous to preserve, the oracles of God. Here, indeed, as Bishop Wilson justly 
remarked, " is an ancient Church, knowing nothing of the pretended supremacy of Rome, nor of her 
peculiar dogmas, but standing a witness, in addition to the primitive Churches in Haut-Dauphine and 
the valleys of Piedmont, to the pure Gospel of Christ; and thus demonstrating the comparative novelty 
of the superstitious doctrines and usages, and, indeed, of all the assumptions of the Church and Court 
of Rome — a testimony in a day like the present of no little value." The boon conferred upon the 
Syrian Churches in the multiplication of copies of Scripture by the British and Foreign Bible Society 
in the editions of 1815, 1816, and of subsequent years, has been duly appreciated by them; and the 
Missionaries relate, that in several instances, the never failing result of the conscientious study of the 



Class II.] S YRIAC— S YRO-CH ALD AI C. 45 

Scriptures lias been manifested, by the substitution of vital godliness for a merely outward orthodox 
profession. 



SYRIAC IN HEBREW CHARACTERS. 

The Syriac New Testament in Hebrew characters was printed for the benefit of the Chasidim and 
Cabalistic Jews of Poland, Constantinople, and the East. It was published in 1837, by the London 
Society for the Conversion of the Jews. The Syriac Peshito had previously appeared in Hebrew 
characters in the fifth part of the Antwerp Polyglot. Before, however, the printing of the Antwerp 
Polyglot, Immanuel Tremellius had used Hebrew characters in his edition of the Syriac New Testament. 
He did this in consequence of there not being, at that time, any place where Syriac types were obtain- 
able excepting Vienna. De la Boderie and others have used Hebrew letters in their editions. 



$ YHO-CH ALD AIC 

AND MODERN SYRIAC. 

FOR SPECIMEN OF THE SYRO-CHALDAIC VERSION IN THE ESTRANGELO CHARACTER, 

see Plate 2, page 20. 

I. — PEOPLE FOR WHOM THIS EDITION IS DESIGNED. 

The Syriac language is written in Nestorian characters, by a professedly Christian people, of whom 
some are entrenched among the mountains of Assyria, and others settled in the adjacent plain of 
Ooroomiah, in West Persia, between 36° and 39° north latitude, and 43° and 46° east longitude: they 
are supposed to amount, in point of number, to about 200,000 souls. They are sometimes called 
Chaldseans, or East Syrians, from the country they inhabit; but they are more commonly known by 
the name of Nestorians, which latter appellation, they contend, is not derived from the celebrated 
Nestorius, who was condemned at the third Council of Ephesus, but from Nazareth, the city of Mary. 
It is said that they originally fled from the Roman empire, during persecution in the reign of Justinian, 
and that they placed themselves under the protection of the king of Persia, who assigned them an 
abode in his dominions. They then consisted of 50,000 families, headed by fifty bishops, and the 
family of the bishop who then held precedence over the rest, still retains the principal civil and 
ecclesiastical power. During the severe persecutions which they subsequently suffered from the 
Mohammedans, they were driven to their present impregnable abodes. Their religious tenets are less 
corrupted than those of most oriental churches.* They seem never to have practised image worship nor 
auricular confession; and so great is their antipathy to popery, that they have a singular and most 

* A modern visitor of these interesting people observes, " the happy moral influence of Christianity could not be 
more plainly manifested than in the change of manners immediately observable in the country we had now entered, 
and which presented itself with the more force from its contrast with the sullen ferocity of the Mohammedans. The 
kind, cordial manners of the people, and the great respect paid to their clergy, were among the first-fruits of that 
influence which showed themselves." Again : " the Chaldean church neither inculcates seclusion nor celibacy among 
its clergy; its only purification is fasting, so strongly enjoined to all Christians," etc. — Ainsworth, 'Visit to the Chal- 
dseans, in the summer of 1841,' Journal of Royal Geographical Society, vol. xi. Several American missionaries are 
stationed in the town of Ooroomiah, or Urumiyah, near the western shore of the lake of that name. 



46 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

anti-christian custom of cursing the Pope regularly every day, his grandfather, grandmother, and 
grandchildren. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OP THE LANGUAGE. 

The language generally denominated the Syro-Chaldaic, or Nestorian, differs in no respect from 
the Syriac, unless it be, indeed, in the occasional variation of one or two grammatical forms, and a 
difference in the pronunciation of the vowels. Thus a Syro-Chaldaic book, if transcribed in Syriac 
characters, would be pure Syriac. The Chaldean priest at Khosrova had a copy of the Pentateuch 
which he had caused to be transcribed, word for word, from the Syriac of Walton's Polyglot, only 
substituting the Nestorian for the Syriac characters; and it was ascertained beyond doubt by the 
missionaries, that the language of this Pentateuch was perfectly identical with that of the Church books 
in common use among the Nestorians. The Nestorian characters may be said to be almost the same as 
the ancient Estrangelo, only slightly modified in form ; they are very clear and agreeable to the eye, 
and missionaries stationed in the country, who have been afflicted with ophthalmia, and thereby 
deprived of the power of reading English type without pain, have found themselves able to read with 
ease and pleasure books written or printed in the Nestorian character. The dialect at present commonly 
spoken among the Nestorians is a very corrupted form of their ancient Syriac: it abounds in con- 
tractions, abbreviations, and inversions, and is adulterated by Persian, Turkish, and Kurdish words. 
In sound it is even harsher than the Armenian. It still, however, retains its character as a Shemitic 
dialect; many Arabic and Hebrew words are discoverable in it; and it is rather remarkable, that the 
Nestorians and the Jews settled in adjacent villages are able to converse together, although the dialect 
spoken by the Jews is a barbarised form of Hebrew, altogether distinct from the vernacular of the 
Nestorians. 

III. — EDITIONS OF SCRIPTURE IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

Several ancient MSS. of Scripture have been found in the possession of the Nestorians, which from 
time to time have been brought to Europe. Dr. Wolff, during his travels in 1826, purchased of the 
Nestorians several MSS. of various portions of their Bible; these he brought safely to England, although 
on two several occasions he very narrowly escaped shipwreck. The MSS. became the property of the 
London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews, and the Committee lent them to the 
British and Foreign Bible Society for publication. An edition of 2000 copies of the Syro-Chaldaic 
Gospels was accordingly printed by the latter Society, under the editorship of T. P. Piatt, Esq., and 
those passages in which the MSS. were deficient were supplied from the Syriac version; for Mr. Piatt 
had ascertained, on critical examination, that the Syro-Chaldaic text was identical, or nearly so, with 
the Society's Syriac version, the character only being different. The types were cast for the purpose 
by Mr. Watts, and the edition left the press in 1829. This, however, was not the first time that Syriac 
had been printed in Nestorian characters, for a Syriac liturgical work, called Missale Chaldaicum, con- 
taining the selections from the Gospels and Epistles read on Sundays and Festivals, was published in 
these characters in 1767 at Eome, accompanied by an interpretation in Carshun. The missionaries 
now among the Nestorians are said to be engaged in the elaborate preparation of a Syro-Chaldaic Old 
Testament, in which they take the ancient and valuable Syriac version, the Peshito, as their text. An 
edition of the Scriptures has been projected by the Christian Knowledge Society, from valuable MSS. 
collected at the cost of the Society in Mesopotamia : but little, if any, progress seems as yet to have 
been made in the publication of this important work. Mr. Perkins, of the American Board of Missions, 
commenced, in 1836, a translation from the ancient or ecclesiastical language, into the modernised 
corrupt dialect now vernacular among these people. The Gospels, and several tracts and books, together 
with a monthly paper, have issued from the press at Ooroomiah ; and more recently an edition of 
1500 copies of the entire Bible, translated from the Hebrew, in modern Nestorian, with the Syriac in 
parallel columns, has been completed. 



Class II.] S YRO-CH ALD AIC. 47 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

Dr. "Wolff, of the London Society for the Conversion of the Jews, travelled, in 1826, among the 
Nestorian churches, and had frequent interviews with the priests and people. He found them, as they 
themselves admitted, in a wild and uncivilised state ; but when questioned on the cause of their want 
of civilisation, they acknowledged it to be the result of their lamentable destitution of copies of the 
Scriptures. They had no printed copies whatever, and the MSS. were extremely scarce, and never 
found in the hands of the common people. " But," said they, " we have heard that the English are 
able to write a thousand copies in one day : would they not write for us several thousand copies, and 
send them to us? we become wild like Kurds, for we have so few copies of the Bible. The English 
have written those of the Jacobites (in Syriac characters) which we cannot read generally, why should 
they not write these of ours ?" The expectations and desires of these simple people were realized ; and 
soon after they had been put in possession of the Gospels by the British and Foreign Bible Society, the 
divine seed sprang up and bore fruit to the glory of God. The missionaries of the American Board of 
Missions who have for some years been labouring among them, give the following account of them: 
" The light of heavenly truth is rapidly pervading the mass of the people, many of whom appear like 
a person awakened from a deep sleep, unconscious of the darkness in which he has been enveloped, and 
are inquiring how it is that they have been kept so long in ignorance and self-delusion. To this their 
priests reply, ' We ourselves, till now, have been dead in trespasses and sins ; and our criminality is 
even greater than yours for having hidden the light so long." The following and later testimony 
is to the same purport. " The other day (writes Mr. Barker, in 1853), an American missionary, who 
had been residing sixteen years at Ooroomiah, communicated to me most interesting accounts of the 
state of things in that part of the world. In the whole of that district the American missionaries have 
full liberty to preach in all the Nestorian churches; the Patriarch, who lives in the mountains, no 
longer opposing the reformation which is taking place among his people, and his brother is a member 
of the American Mission. All the churches have been divested of all their pictures, crosses, etc., 
leaving their walls completely bare, as in Protestant places of worship. The pious Nestorians have 
marked out all the objectionable portions of their Liturgy, such as prayers of intercession to the Virgin, 
Saints, etc., and omit them in their devotions. In the Ooroomiah district, there are 80 schools entirely 
under the control of the missionaries, amongst which are some for male and female adults." 






48 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 



ARABIC. 

SPECIMEN, FBOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14.* 

U U1 Ji3 ^ ^\ j^N jyl\ W K * jy & J^ Jj jyl\ ^^. ^ **^ J^ cT^ 

# " ' .... - 

J^-j l^w?- jL> tot&]\j * <sJJt ^ \jjJj ^ Jj>y <u^< ^ 'ij *«j3 L^jA ^r* ^j ^ liT* 

«» <• .... 

* Ul>-j £**j ldl# t_j3\ u^j t^JJ! 'V- 5 *^ J-^ ^' x ?^ *<^« u-iyj «^»' 

I. — PREDOMINANCE OF THE LANGUAGE. 

It is almost impossible to calculate with any degree of accuracy the amount of population by whom 
this language is spoken. The population of Arabia itself has been variously estimated from 10,000,000 
to 14,000,000 inhabitants; but Arabic is also vernacular in Syria, in Mesopotamia, in part of Persia, 
in some parts of the Malabar and Coromandel coasts of India, in Egypt, in Nubia, and in Barbary. 
Arabic is also extensively used as the language of religion and commerce in Western, Eastern, and 
Central Africa, and before the missionaries had reduced some of the African dialects to writing, 
Arabic was the only written language known to the natives of that vast continent. As the language 
of the Koran, Arabic is venerated and studied from " the western confines of Spain and Africa to the 
Philippine Islands, over 130 degrees of longitude; and from the tropic of Capricorn to Tartary, over 
70 degrees of latitude." Its importance as a medium of communication between distant nations may 
be inferred from the reason assigned by the Rev. Henry Martyn for .undertaking a new version of the 
Arabic Testament. " We will begin to preach," said that devoted missionary, " to Arabia, Syria, 
Persia, Tartary, part of India and of China, half of Africa, all the sea-coast of the Mediterranean, and 
Turkey, and one tongue shall suffice for them all" 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OE THE LANGUAGE. 

The Arabic language, in its earliest and rudest state, was the vernacular of a few nomadic tribes 
who derived their descent from Kahtan, the son of Heber, a great grandson of Shem, and from 
Ishmael (the son of Abraham, by Hagar), who, by his marriage with a daughter of Morad, of the 
race of Kahtan, engrafted his posterity on the Arabic stock. It was spoken among these tribes in a 
variety of dialects, concerning which we now know little more than that the Koreisli and the Hamiar 
were the distinctive appellations of the two predominant dialects. Mohammed spoke the Koreish dialect, 
and under his influence and that of his successors the other dialects insensibly merged into it. Hence 
the extraordinary copiousness of the Arabic language; the result, not of foreign admixture (for Arabia 
was never conquered), but of the gradual amalgamation of numerous dialects into one. The language 
is rich both in lexicography and in grammatical forms. It has a complete, though simple, system of 

* From the Arabic Version published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1825. Quarto. 



Class II.] - ARABIC. 49 

declension; a stock of augmentatives and diminutives; thirteen conjugations of verbs, both in the 
active and passive voice; two genders, masculine and feminine; three numbers, singular, dual, and 
plural; and also a peculiar collective form of the plural which seems to belong almost exclusively to the 
Arabic, Ethiopic, and Amharic languages, and is called the plural of paucity. There is, as in Hebrew, 
one article (al or el) answering in many respects to our English the ; it appears in many words which 
we have borrowed from the Arabic, as in Alcoran (literally the Koran), alcohol, algebra, etc. The 
particles are, as in most languages, indeclinable ; and are divided into two classes, the separable and 
the inseparable: the former are always used as prefixes, and the latter, though forming separate words, 
always precede the word they govern. The process of simplification which has ever been at work in 
the modification of all vernacular languages, has not spared the antique forms of Arabic grammar. 
There are as many distinct Arabic dialects as there are countries in which Arabic is spoken ; and in 
these dialects the inflexions of case, the passive form of the verb, and the dual, have more or less dis- 
appeared. Words and phrases from other languages have also in many cases been introduced. The 
Moorish and Syrian Arabs, like the Maltese, have adopted a negative form peculiar to French and its 
dialects ; the phrase il ne vient pas is, in their Arabic, ma yegychi (ma answering to ne, and chi to pas). 
Yet, amidst all these local changes, the modern Arabic still preserves a close resemblance to the Arabic 
of the Koran, which is everywhere religiously upheld as the model of classic beauty and elegance. 

It is uncertain what alphabetical system was originally in use among the tribes of Arabia. About 
the time of Mohammed, a style of writing was adopted by the tribe of Koreish, called the Cufic, from 
the town of Cufa in Irak, in which it originated. It is evidently derived from the Estrangelo Syriac 
alphabet. In this character, which is clumsy and inelegant, consisting mostly of straight strokes, 
Mohammed wrote the Koran ; it was superseded in the tenth century by a character called the Nishki, 
which has ever since continued in use, not only among the nations who write the Arabic language, 
but also among the Turks and Persians. De Sacy has proved that this character is at least as ancient 
as the time of Mohammed. It appears that, about the period of the adoption of the Nishki character, 
three vowel signs were introduced, placed, as in Hebrew, above or below the line, according to the 
nature of the vowels. There are twenty-eight consonants, and to many of them a different form is 
appropriated, according to their position in words, as initial, medial, or final. 

III. — VERSIONS AND PRINTED EDITIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES. 

It was in Arabia (as the district east of Damascus was then called) that the great Apostle of the 
Gentiles commenced his ministrations (Gal. i. 17); but Christianity did not, as in Syria and Egypt, 
become the established religion of the country; and there are few, if any, very ancient versions of 
Scripture in Arabic. A version, of which no part is now extant, is said to have been made by Warka, 
the son of Naufel, during the lifetime of Mohammed ; and this fact serves to account for the deep know- 
ledge of Scripture displayed by the false prophet. The most ancient of the MSS. that are known in 
Europe seem to have been executed soon after the conquests of the Saracens, in the seventh century. 
Towards the middle of the eighth century, John, Bishop of Seville, finding that the Latin language 
was falling more and more into disuse, executed a translation from Jerome's Vulgate into Arabic. 
The churches under the Patriarchates of Antioch and of Alexandria also produced translations in 
Arabic, at different periods, from their ancient Church versions. Printed editions of some of these 
MSS. have been published at intervals since the year 1546. The four Gospels were published at Kome 
in 1591, the translation being directly from the Greek. In 1616, an entire New Testament was 
printed by Erpenius, at Leyden, from an exemplar said to have been executed in Upper Egypt by a 
Coptic Bishop in the fourteenth century. The Gospels of this edition are substantially the same as the 
Eoman text of 1591, but the Epistles bear internal evidence of having been derived from the Peshito, 
while the book of Eevelation is a translation from the Coptic. 

The first Arabic version printed in England was that in "Walton's Polyglot, published 1657. 
This version is merely a reprint of an Arabic translation of noted inaccuracy, published in 1645, in 

5 



50 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

the Paris Polyglot, but with, the omissions supplied from one of the Selden MSS. The Pentateuch 
inserted in these Polyglots is said to have been first published in 1546, at Constantinople, by Saadias 
Gaon, a Jewish teacher of Babylon, and is an unfaithful and inelegant production. It is extremely 
paraphrastic, and though in general it conforms to the Masoretic text, it sometimes follows the Chaldee 
Targum of Onkelos, and sometimes the Septuagint. The other books of the Polyglot editions are, for 
the most part, by unknown writers; in some books the Syriac version is followed so closely, that, in 
the London Polyglot, the same Latin translation, with a few marginal alterations, answers both to the 
Syriac and to the Arabic texts. The Gospels of the Polyglots are nearly the same as the Eoman 
and Erpenian texts, but the other books of the New Testament are apparently a translation from the 
Greek: they were printed from an Egyptian MS., and are supposed by some to have originally agreed 
generally with the Erpenian version, but to have been altered by the editors. Erpenius also published 
the Pentateuch in Arabic at Leyden, in 1662, in Hebrew characters, from a MS. in the possession of 
Scaliger, and supposed to have been made by an African Jew of the thirteenth century. It is a direct 
translation from the Hebrew, to which it adheres so closely as to be almost unintelligible to persons 
unacquainted with that language. 

The version of Abu Said, from the Samaritan Pentateuch, has been noticed in page 38. An 
edition of the entire Bible, in three volumes folio, was published by the Propaganda at Eome in 1671. 
Forty-six years were consumed in transcribing and revising the text. It was undertaken by order of 
Pope Urban VIII., at the earnest request of several oriental prelates. Sergius Risius, the Maronite 
Bishop of Damascus, was appointed, in conjunction with other learned men, to collate the various 
printed copies with the original oriental versions of the Vulgate. The work was completed in 1650, 
but was subjected to a fresh revisal prior to publication, on account of its not being sufficiently con- 
formable to the Vulgate. An important edition of the Psalms in Arabic was published in London, 
1725, by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. The text of this edition is attributed to 
Athanasius, the Melchite Patriarch of Antioch, and is valued on account of its fidelity. In 1727, an 
Arabic New Testament was published by the same Society from the text of the Polyglot, corrected by 
the editor, Solomon Negri. Although 10,000 copies of this work were printed, the edition is now 
extremely rare, for none of the copies were sold in Europe, and but few given to the learned. Two 
copies are preserved at Cambridge. A great part of the edition was sent to Russia, for distribution in 
the surrounding Mohammedan countries. An Arabic Bible is reported to have been printed at 
Bucharest in 1700, and the Gospels at Aleppo in 1706, but little is known of these editions in 
Europe. 

About the year 1811, an edition of the Scriptures in Arabic, from the text of the Polyglot, was 
printed at Newcastle. This work, projected by Professor Carlyle, was under the patronage of the 
Bishop of Durham, and the Bible Society lent assistance to its publication and circulation. It was 
afterwards discovered that the churches of the East, for whom this edition was chiefly intended, are 
scrupulously averse to the reception of any version except that which they have been accustomed to 
recognise. To meet their case, the Society, in 1820, issued 5000 copies of the New Testament from 
the only text which these churches regard as genuine, namely, that published in 1671 by the Propa- 
ganda: this was followed, in 1822, by an edition of the Old Testament from the same text, 
published under the care of Professors Lee and Macbride. In 1819 the Society had printed an edition 
of 3000 copies in 12mo. of the Psalter, from the text employed by the Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge, which text was likewise adopted at the celebrated press of the Convent of St. John the 
Baptist, on Mount Libanus. An attempt to produce a version of the New Testament in modern 
Arabic was likewise made by the Rev. William Jowett during his travels in Syria: he employed a 
learned priest of Jerusalem to commence a translation from the original Greek, on the basis of that 
of the Propaganda: the MS. was completed as far as the end of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and 
sent to Malta, but never printed. 

The need of an improved translation of the Scriptures in Arabic, so long and so deeply felt by the 



Class II.] ARABIC. 51 

Eastern. Churches, has at length been met by the Christian Knowledge Society. Their agent, the 
Rev. C. Schlienz, relates, as the result of his personal observations in the East, " that the only two 
printed versions of the Arabic Bible (the edition of the Polyglot and that of the Propaganda) known 
in Egypt and Syria, were both regarded with rooted antipathy by the Mohammedans ; the Polyglot 
chiefly for its presumptuous impiety in adopting the phraseology of the Koran, and for its inequality 
of style, and that of the Propaganda for its vulgarity and inelegancy of language." In 1839 the prepara- 
tion of a new Arabic version was commenced, by the direction of the Society, under the superintendence 
of the Rev. C. Schlienz. The first draft of the whole translation was originally made by Mr. Fares 
(admitted to be one of the best native Arabic scholars of the day), from the authorised English Bible, under 
the directions of the late Professor Lee, by whom it was afterwards, to a very considerable extent, cor- 
rected by the original Hebrew. The printing was commenced in London under the superintendence of 
Professor Lee, assisted by Mr. Fares, the proof-sheets passing also in succession through the hands of a 
sub-committee of revision, consisting of able Biblical and Oriental scholars. Upon the death of Dr. Lee, 
in 1852, his place as principal editor was filled by Professor Jarrett, who, with the continued aid, 
throughout, of Mr. Fares, carried the work through the press to its completion in 1856. Thus an 
uniform version of the Holy Scriptures, in pure Arabic, according to the Hebrew and Greek originals, 
has at length been completed by God's blessing. 

Dr. Eli Smith, the well-known American missionary, stationed at Beyrout, had during several 
years prior to his lamented decease (in 1856) been laboriously engaged in preparing a new translation 
of the entire Bible into Arabic. 

A version of the New Testament in modern Arabic was printed at Calcutta in 1816, designed 
principally for the learned and fastidious Mohammedans in all parts of the world, who, it was thought, 
might have been repelled from the study of Scripture by the antiquated style of former versions. 
This translation was made by a learned Arabian scholar, the unhappy Sabat, under the supervision of 
the Rev. S. M. Thomason. The lamented Henry Martyn was deeply interested in Sabat, and the 
production of his version; but he did not live to see it finished. A second edition was printed in 
London in 1825, under the care of Professor Lee; and a third in Calcutta, by the Rev. S. M. Thomason, 
in the following year : but the version has not been found generally acceptable in countries where the 
language is vernacular, and it has not since been reprinted. 

IT. — RESULTS OF THE PROPAGATION OF THE ARABIC VERSION. 

Wherever the Arabic language prevails, there Mohammedanism is predominant; but among the 
followers of the false prophet, the Arabic version is gradually and silently effecting the purposes of 
God. Perhaps no one version of the Scriptures has been received in so many countries, and blessed to 
so many different nations, as the Arabic. In Western Africa, the natives, on first receiving the copies 
sent to them by the British and Foreign Bible Society, " were astonished that a white man should 
have written this book in their favourite language." The Rev. T. Dove, missionary at Macarthy's 
Island, writing in 1835, expresses his belief that many of the Arabic Bibles, Testaments, and Psalters, 
had been conveyed hundreds of miles into the interior of Africa. " I have seen (said the Rev. Mr. 
Richardson in 1838) Moors reading our Bible in their shops in broad day, in the midst of business; . . . 
I have fallen upon these Moors by pure accident, and I have distributed many an Arabic Testament 
with my own hands among these devotees of Mohammed." " Even the sons of Kedar (says the Rev. 
Mr. Ewald) have heard the Gospel sound beneath their tents, and have often and willingly bought the 
word of the living God." In Egypt also the Arabic Scriptures sent by the British and Foreign Bible 
Society were received with equal readiness, as is attested by the Rev. W. Jowett, in his account of his 
mission thither, dated 1819. In illustration of the results of the dissemination of the Scriptures in 
that country, the Rev. Mr. Kruse, of the Church Missionary Society, writes from Cairo: — " Some few 
Mohammedans are coming to me, and in one or two I begin to hope the Scriptures are unfolding the 
true light. You will easily conceive how thankful I feel when I hear a Mohammedan relating the 



52 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

history and doctrine of our Saviour. One, in particular, evidences that he has a clear knowledge of 
the Scriptures, and I really believe that he has received the truth as it is in Jesus." 

Abdallah, an Arabian of noble birth, was converted from Islamism by the simple perusal of the 
Bible. When his conversion became known, Abdallah, to escape the vengeance of his countrymen, 
fled from Cabul in disguise, but was met and recognised at Bokhara by Sabat: Abdallah, perceiving 
his danger, threw himself at the feet of his friend, and besought him, by all the ties of their former 
intimacy, to save his life. " But," said Sabat, " Iliad no pity ; I delivered him up to Morad Shah, 
king of Bokhara." Abdallah was offered his life if he would abjure Christ, but he refused. Then one 
of his hands was cut off, and a physician, by command of the king, offered to heal the wound if he 
would recant. " He made no answer," said Sabat, " but looked up stedfastly towards heaven, like 
Stephen, the first martyr, his eyes streaming with tears. He did not look with anger towards me ; he 
looked at me, but it was benignly, and with the countenance of forgiveness. His other hand was 
then cut off. But," continued Sabat, " he never clianged, he never changed. And when he bowed his 
head to receive the blow of death, all Bokhara seemed to say, What new thing is this?" 



JUDJO-AHABIC; 

OR, ARABIC IN HEBREW CHARACTERS. 

The Arabic Pentateuch, published by Erpenius at Leyden in 1622 was, as we have seen, printed in 
Hebrew characters. The necessity of printing an edition of the Arabic New Testament in Hebrew 
characters was suggested to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society as early as 1820, 
by a clergyman then travelling in the East. Nothing, however, appears to have been effected for the 
many thousand Jews in Egypt, Tunis, and the whole north of Africa, Yemen, Syria, and Mesopotamia 
(to whom the Arabic is vernacular, but who seldom read or write except in their own characters), 
until 1846, when the Bombay Auxiliary Bible Society commenced for their use an edition of the 
Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, with the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, 
under the superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Wilson of Bombay. As it was found impossible to carry 
on this work in India, the parent Society undertook an edition of 2000 copies, which they completed 
and published in 1847. 



Class II.] MALTESE. 53 



MALTESE. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

[London, 1829.] 

Fyl bydu kynet yl kelma, u yl kelma kynet nand Alia, u Alia kyn yl kelma. 2 Hydina 
kynet fyl bydu nand Alia. 3 Kollocq biha sar: u myn n 7 ajrha ujejn ma sar, mylli sar, 4 Fiha 
yl najja kynet, u yl najja kynet yd-daul tal bnydinin : 5 U yd-daul jylma fyd-dlainijyt, 
u yd-dlamijyt ma fehmuhtq. 6 Kyn hemmse bnydem mybniit mn' Alia, li kyn ysmu 
Guan. 7 Dana gy b' uqyhed bycq jyiqhed myddaul, byq yl koll jemmnubih. 8 Hua ma 
kynuj yd-daul, yzdee mybaut byiq jyuqlied myd-daul. 9 Kyn daul ta fiaqq ddha, li 
qyned juri lyl koll bnydem li gej f dm yd-dynja. 10 Hua kyn fyd-dynja, u yd-dynja 
nalih saret, u yd-dynja ma narfytuuq. n Gy fy huejjgu, u nysu ma laqnuhiu[. 12 Yzdse 
lyl dauk kollha li laqnuh, tahom yl jedd ylli jsiru ulyd Alia, lyl dauka, li jemmnu 
b' ysmu : 13 Li ma tuylduuj myd-demm, u la myr-ryda tal gysem, u la myr-ryda tar- 
ragel, yzdae mn' Alia. 14 U yl kelma saret bnydem, mymlia byl finynse, u byl naqq, u 
nammar fostna : u rajna kburitu, kburia bfial tal mnysseluandu myl myss) r r. 

Malta, tlie ancient Melita, is an island of the Mediterranean, situated at a distance of sixty-two 
miles from Cape Passaro in Sicily, and one hundred and ninety-seven miles north of Tripoli in 
Africa. It comprises an area of only ninety-eight square miles, its greatest length being seventeen 
miles, and its extreme breadth nine miles: its population amounted, at the latest census, to 142,500. 

But, although so small an island, Malta has been the theatre of some of the most remarkable events 
recorded in history. Originally in the hands of the Phosnicians and Carthaginians, it passed, during the 
first Punic war, under the dominion of Rome. While subject to that empire, it was visited by the Apostle 
Paul, on his passage from Csesarea to Rome ; and the creek on which he was stranded is called to this 
day " St. Paul's Bay." On the decline of the Roman empire, Malta was transferred to the Goths, then 
to the Saracens, and afterwards to the crown of Sicily. In the sixteenth century it again became 
renowned as the scene of the valiant exploits of the Knights of St. John. The island was presented 
to this order by the Emperor Charles V., and continued under their sway till 1798, when it capitulated 
to the French, but was taken by the English in the following year. By the treaty of 1814, Malta was 
ceded to England. 

The religion of the Maltese is Roman Catholicism; and it is supposed that there are scarcely 
4600 Protestants in the island, including the British residents, who number about 4000. There 
are (or were but recently) 16,000 priests and friars, and it is believed that not a single member of the 
ancient order of knights so long the masters of the island is now to be found there. The Maltese lan- 
guage is spoken not only in Malta, but also in Gozzo, a small island lying at a distance of about four 
miles off its coast, containing a population of 16,500 individuals. 

I. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Maltese would be a pure Shemitic dialect, were it not alloyed with Italian and Latin words. 
It was thought by some, as for instance by the learned Agius, that the Maltese language was identical 



54 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

with the ancient Punic or Phoenician. But Gesenius has demonstrated that it is a dialect of the modern 
Arabic, in which there may be a few words derived from the ancient language of Tyre or of Carthage. 
It approximates closely to the Mogrebin, or Moorish- Arabic, particularly in the conjugation of verbs; 
and most of its words are either Arabic or of Arabic origin. It resembles modern Arabic, in having 
no variations of termination to denote the distinctions of case, particles being prefixed to the noun 
instead of the ancient case-endings. In the Maltese alphabet the twenty-eight sounds of the Arabic 
alphabet are recognised; but with these are conjoined three other letters which never occur in Arabic, 
and which are principally met with in words derived from the Italian. The Koman letters are used 
in writing, Arabic characters being unknown to the Maltese. 

[Malta, 1847.] 

Fil bidu kienet il Kelma, u il Kelma kienet aand Alia, u Alia kien il Kelma. 2 Dina 
kienet fil bidu aand Alia. 3 Kollosh biha sar ; u minn aayrha sheyn ma sar, milli sar. 
4 Film il haya kienet, u il haya kienet id dawl tal bniedmin. 5 U id dawl yilma fid dlami- 
yiet, u id dlamiyiet ma fehmuhsh. 6 Kien hemma bniedem mibaut mn Alia, li ismu Jwan. 
7 Dana jie b' shiehed biesh yislied mid Dawl, biesh il koll yemmnu bih. 8 Hua ma kiensh 
id Dawl, izda Men biesh yishhed mid Dawl. 9 Kien dawl tas sewa, li yuri lil koll bniedem 
li yiji fid dinya. 10 Hu kien fid dinya, u id dinya bih saret, u id dinya ma aarfetush. n Jie 
fi hweyju, u niesu ma laqauhsh. 12 Izda lil dawk kollha li laqauh, tahom il yedd illi isiru 
ulied Alia, lil dawka li yemmnu b'Ismu : 13 Li le twieldu mid demm, u la mir rieda tal 
jisem, lanqas mir rieda tar rajel, izda mn' Alia. 14 U il Kelma saret jisem, u aammret 
fostna (u rayna sebhu, bhala sebh li mnissel-wahdu mil Missier,) mimlia bil grazya u bis 
sewa. 

II. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The first attempt to translate the Scriptures into Maltese was made in the early part of the present 
century, by the Kev. W. Jowett, of the Church Missionary Society. He was assisted by Giuseppe 
Cann6lo, a native of Malta; and in 1822 a small edition of the Gospel of St. John, with the Maltese 
and Italian in parallel columns, was published in London as a specimen of the work. The translation 
was so much approved by competent judges, that a version of the Four Gospels and Acts was printed 
in 1829, at the expense of the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge: the Latin Vulgate, from 
which the translation had been made, was appended in parallel columns. The Liturgy of the Church 
of England has since been translated under the auspices of the same Society, and they likewise 
printed, in 1847, the entire New Testament in Maltese. 



Class II.] 



MOGREBIN. 



5n 



MOGREBIN, AFRICAN-MOORISH, 

OR WESTERN ARABIC. 

SPECIMEN OF THE MOGREBIN VERSION AND OF THE ORDINARY ARABIC SCRIPTURES. 

GENESIS, Chap. i. v. 1 to 8. 



MOORISH ARABIC. 



ARABIC. 



GU? '-j*& ^3 J^ ^ ^^J J^J ^M- 

jij j^\ jty &\ Jli, * U11 J^ jyj aJJI 



j^t 



U1 ^ jl^l 



^ ^1 Ul! ^b jjj 



A^ aJJI L5 ^J * \^> J^j Jwssll Jjjj 



-dN 



* ur^ fJi c^ t& i^* t& ^ 



a^s-j ^^Ic <uila!! U-ol£j : <uJU- £>j^- tjojl] 
<£]\ Jljij * *L*J1 ^Jji cjji t <dll j-jjj : jAJ$\ 

LL^. j^Ul <di! ^y * jy^ uJ^ jy^ <J^ 

&*^j lAlr 5 JJ-^ ls^U * **^jjyN (j# Orb 
Jlij * l»X>-!j UijJ ~U*3 ^1^ *L»* (jl^j : \A 

u ^j : ajy ^aJ! abd! ^jjuj jJwsjl! c^vsvl' ^1 

* bjl5 Ujj ~U*s u^j 



An attempt lias very recently been made to produce a translation of tlie Scriptures in the Arabic 
dialect spoken in all the states of Barbary. We have no exact statistical account of the amount of 
population to whom this idiom is vernacular. According to the latest authorities, the empire of Morocco 
(the largest and most populous of the Barbary States) contains about eight millions of inhabitants. 
Algeria, which is now a French colony, has a native population of two millions. Adding to these the 
estimated population of Tunis and Tripoli, and also vast regions to the south of Morocco, the whole 
amount of population to be reached by this dialect may perhaps be estimated at from fifteen to twenty 
millions. These millions of inhabitants are principally Moors, and followers of the Mohammedan religion ; 
but recent experience has shown that they are not inaccessible to the teachers of the Christian faith. 

After some difficulty, arising from the religious scruples of the people, Dr. Thomson (the agent 
of the British and Foreign Bible Society) has succeeded in obtaining a translation of a portion of the 
Koran into the vernacular dialect of Barbary; the work was executed with much reluctance and hesita- 
tion by a Moor, and under the express condition that the fact of his having rendered this assistance 
should be kept secret from his countrymen. The object of this translation was, to enable the learned 
to form an accurate judgment concerning the' idiomatic difference between this modern Arabic dialect, 
and the Arabic of the Koran. 

Dr. Thomson subsequently met with a Jew who, like all the other members of his race born in 
Barbary, spoke the vernacular of the country, and who also possessed the ability, seldom attained by 
the Jews, of writing in the Arabic character. Dr. Thomson employed him in translating the first 
three chapters of Genesis, and afterwards engaged him to produce a version of the entire Book from 



56 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

the Hebrew, into African Arabic. 1 In a letter dated Tetuan, December 1847, Dr. Thomson applied 
to the Bible Society for assistance in this undertaking, but it does not appear that his appeal has been 
successful. A portion of St. Luke was printed by the Bible Society in Berber. 



CARSHUN 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 
^Va . en n>\o^s ocn cn_S$so . enJSSs «_uiK ^Lo en viNn^sO . en viN.o'^s ,Lo «^>»->^s u°a 
AjLo enrs . ^Lo jbox) uj» ^x> /x\ o-u^so *Lo en.a ^a . cn_S5s «-i n |.^a/«-£> J»cn 
. ot_3JjL jaii. axio^^so en s^N^s us U J jqj-^so . >toLlSs Soj i_»cn enJL^w^so . cnJ^A^s 
^iocu^. . jojj^ »cn_e»^ cn>Jcn„»L\ JL^v J?cn . !_j-^q_. cn^aaij . cn^Ss ^o s ^co5J ^ccuj ^Lo 
uim^ »o — i ocn *_/*^s jcuL^ >cn_ft-Oi», v n\ . »o.jl,^\ ocn ^A» pAo . ctl»*_< «A^ ^o,Ss 
ja^Jj^o v oii crvs ^pAJL^so v Lo ^Jbu^s ua . ;a^Jb>^ u^s 1] v )LcdjJ 'Sfc^. o^-> ^^ 
pcnL^J cno ^n ^.-^ J-£>Js . cn^cual. ^ cnLAao JL^otLAo u^s . ens^^ ;:£>. 
^-^o JJo L_S5» ^_s> pen tccu^o . cn.^o m|b ^ax^sa, ^y-^s . cn_iSs. u i a Jo^-»^ v j J-IiL^as 
"^o j;i_ra^>J- c nx^No^ o . ctl^X ^ Jo_^o ^."iN ^S cnJL*^> ^s> )Jo ;a_A*Ji». i_»ocn 
. LlcLwO otvim u2sZooid^ <^]i\ ^o «_»jJ§s «-a^,o^s <_>> ^ioo Jr5^° • ° 1 ?-<sc :> ^J-»'>° M-*^ 

The Carshun, or Arabic in Syriac characters, is used (chiefly by members of the Syrian churches) in 
Mesopotamia as far as Bagdad, in Mount Lebanon, at Aleppo, and in many other parts of Syria. It 
has been calculated that the number of individuals who speak Arabic, but use the Syriac character, is 
about one million. A diglot edition of the New Testament, in which the Syriac Peshito and the 
Carshun from the Arabic text of Erpenius, were ranged in parallel columns, was published in 1703 
at Borne, at the press of the College de Propaganda Fide, for the use of the Maronite Christians. 
Dr. Pinkerton forwarded a copy of this edition from Malta to the Committee of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society in 1819. About eight years later, the Society undertook a new edition, and there being 
no suitable type in England, it was printed at Paris. M. de Quatremere and the Baron de Sacy were 
the editors. An edition of the Carshun alone, and another edition of the Syriac and Carshun, in 
parallel columns, left the press in 1828. 



1 A portion of this fragment is given above as a specimen, with the corresponding passage from the Arabic Scriptures, 

published by the Bible Society. 



Class II.] ETHIOPIC. ' 57 



ETHIOPIC. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

«t>£OTJ.U* . £> A . a^^i? : (DdK/vF : $>& : -*fl s'/ViH.'VnrftC : ©""At 8 : <D"K a IH.2Vfl 
dtC '■ <D->kls : 3>A : : arHlf : 'Xgn^.EjBO. : in : ?i a lH.fr , n(h>C : (D^l 5 ■ : Yl* A- : P 
-P :P* : (DH^TnAU-ft : hAP : HV1 : ©M™"!*!. •"ft^HP* " P"F : Ai^©^ : ©- 
■^f : ©thf©^ : -nQHTt- ■ AXiA : >*<rofh.P©* : ©-"Af ■: <D-nC.Hlft = H©*fl*!" : *A 
ob^ :^nc« : © 1 PCA.:©*Ao« ; t , *.:A,£<!:YlP ::©UA° : AihR, : •Il'AlX : HTd.1© : 
>,ipin : "^"IH^-P^C • HflTO- : P-fhlfi :: ©©^1* : «*»»A : Afl^O : rt»"jOT : £ 
Y>T : n>kTT : TICH1 : Yl"» : YTA : £"^011-5 : Pf : : ffiAA.U*fl : A.P* : -flC^i : ^ 
bc: rtaqGT :£lTKl : tlVlT : -tlCn " H<D-M : -nC.H'k '• «•£•* : H^nC« .AlTTA-: 
frlfo : H^t^R-"^ : ©flT : ^A7° " ©©flT : **A9» : UA° : (D<%A9 n Y. : PI* : Pi : 
(DGiA^fl : Ky'^ (n) C :: CD-fti" : H.AU- : ero»A ; aftiA.ftlM'l : A.T©*1&© - (DA 
>»Al"l : -T©VlG.© : (DUPOD 1 : M>A"1* : ©'Ag = MH.MlA.C : £1^ ■ A"ftA : AT" 
i, : nfl*ro* :-. hA : A.pV : "2\9°* : HK9 13 : (D?».>k9 n «5.9 , K = ftf©* : HA"^ : ©A,"K9° 
juutpo^T : fl^iX : AA : "Kg^lH.ft'flih.C - 1*(DAR. :: OKDOvF : $>£l : A"3 : Pi : (D 
fg^ : AOAi : ©CM : fMUhtU- : Yia° : f|*fl<hT = ArhR, : TAiff : AAP-U* : H9°A- 
7t : K? : ©Vlll : ©&■£■«!> " 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL PREDOMINANCE OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Ethiopic is called by the Abyssinians Lisana Gheez or language of the free-born, because it was 
anciently the only vernacular dialect of all Abyssinia. About A.D. 1300, a family from the province 
of Amhara obtained possession of the government, and since that period Amharic has been the lan- 
guage of the capital and the court, while Ethiopic has become exclusively the ecclesiastical and written 
language of the country. As no measurements or surveys have been taken of Abyssinia, it is difficult 
to estimate its precise extent. It formed part of the ancient Ethiopia, and the Arabian geographers 
first distinguished it by the name of Abyssinia (from Habesch, mixture or confusion), to indicate the 
supposed Arabic origin of the inhabitants, and their subsequent mixture with African tribes. Abyssinia 
probably includes about 200,000 English square miles; it stretches from 9° to 15° 40' north latitude, 
and from 36° east longitude to the Red Sea. Its probable amount of population has been estimated, 
though with little certainty, at 4,500,000. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The dialect of the Himyarite Arabs, the 'OfMjpirai of Ptolemy, still spoken under the name of" 
Elihlrili on the southern coast of Arabia, is the parent dialect of the Ethiopic. Inscriptions in this 
ancient dialect, of which the characters bear a striking resemblance to the Ethiopic, have been dis- 
covered in South Arabia, by Lieutenant Wellsted and others, and seem to show, by the coincidence 
of some letters in them with the system of writing in Sanscrit inscriptions of the time of Asochus, that 
the Ethiopic system of writing and of syllabification came originally from India. The Ethiopic possesses 
many of the characteristics of a genuine Shemitic tongue. It has ten conjugations of verbs, formed 
upon the same system as those of Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic. In each conjugation there are two 
tenses, the preterite and the future; there are two genders, masculine and feminine, but no dual 
number. As might be expected from its origin, Ethiopic bears a close affinity to Arabic. According 
to Gesenius, about one third of its roots and primitive words exist in Arabic, and a large proportion 



58 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

of the remainder in the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac. The Eunuch of Candace reading the prophet 
Isaiah seems to establish this affinity of the Ethiopic with the Hebrew. Ludolf, who first made the 
Ethiopic language accurately known in Europe, says, that " it approaches nearest the Arabic, of which 
it seems a kind of production, as being comprehended almost within the same grammatical rules, the 
same forms of conjugations, the same forms of plurals, both entire and anomalous;" and he adds, that 
" whoever understands Arabic, may with little labour acquire the Ethiopic." Unlike all other Shemitic 
languages, Ethiopic and its cognate dialects are written after the European manner, from left to right. 
There are twenty-six consonants and seven vowel sounds; but the vowels, instead of being marked, 
as in Hebrew and Arabic, by points above and below the lines, are indicated by changes in the form 
of consonants; so that a single letter in Ethiopic is equivalent to an entire syllable. 

III. ETHIOPIC VERSIONS OF SCRIFTURE. 

A very ancient Ethiopic version of the entire Scriptures, mentioned by Chrysostom in his second 
homily on St. John, is still extant, but when or by whom executed is unknown. It certainly was not 
produced later than the fourth century. By some it is attributed to Frumentius, who, about the year 330, 
preached Christianity in Abyssinia, and was ordained Bishop of the country by Athanasius, Patriarch 
of Alexandria, whence perhaps the dependence, still subsisting, of the Church of Abyssinia on that of 
Egypt. In this version the books of the Old Testament appear to have been mainly translated from 
the Septuagint; in the Gospels, the translator seems to have availed himself of various MSS., and 
some peculiar readings occur: considered as a whole, however, this version may be said to correspond 
pretty closely with the Alexandrine family of MSS., as might, indeed, have been expected from the 
proximity of the countries and the connection between the two churches; for the Coptic Patriarch 
of Egypt is the head of the Abyssinian Church, and the Abuna or resident Bishop of Abyssinia is 
always appointed by him. The Epistles and Book of Eevelation belonging to this version are unhap- 
pily very paraphrastic; in other respects the Ethiopic New Testament is of considerable use in biblical 
criticism, as it shows the state of the text at a very early period. The entire Ethiopic Bible has never 
yet been printed. The Psalter, through some mistake erroneously entitled a Chaldee Psalter, was 
published by John Potken at Rome in 1513; and again, in 1657, it appeared in the London Polyglot 
with various readings and notes by Dr. Edmund Castell. In 1701 another edition of the Psalter was 
edited by Ludolf, the celebrated Ethiopic scholar. In 1548 the New Testament in Ethiopic was 
printed for the first time at Borne, by some Abyssinian priests. This edition, afterwards reprinted in 
the London Polyglot, is very inaccurate; the MSS. used on the occasion Were old and mutilated, and 
the editors filled up the chasms that occurred in the text by translating from the Vulgate. The 
subject of printing this ancient version was first brought before the Bible Society by a communication 
transmitted through the Edinburgh Bible Society, from the Rev. George Paxton of Edinburgh, con- 
cerning the spiritual state of the Abyssinians, and the scarcity of copies of Scripture among them. 
The British and Foreign Bible Society accordingly, in 1815, gave an edition of the Psalter, accurately 
printed from Ludolf 's edition, to Abyssinia; and as no correct printed edition had been ever issued 
of the New Testament, strenuous efforts were made to obtain authentic MSS. The only Ethiopic MS. 
of importance at that period, easily accessible in England, was a MS. of the Gospel of St. John, 
brought from India by Dr. Buchanan, and deposited at Cambridge. This was found on collation to 
differ from the printed copy in almost every verse, and its readings were evidently more accurate than 
those of the printed edition. With the view of inspecting other MSS., Mr. Thomas Pell Piatt visited 
Paris in 1822, and collated the valuable MSS. belonging to the Royal Library; and in 1826, the Four 
Gospels were completed, under his editorial care. They were printed from a fount of types cast at 
the expense of the Bible Society, from the matrices which had been presented by Ludolf, in 1700, 
to the Frankfort Library. The entire New Testament was published in 1830. In this edition, no 
one MS. was exclusively followed. The plan adopted by the editor, Mr. Piatt, was, as he himself 
informs us, first to prepare a correct copy from a MS. of undoubted value, leaving considerable space 



Class II.] ETHIOPIC. 59 

between the lines; other MSS. were then carefully collated with the copy, and every variety of reading 
that occurred was inserted, in the space left for the purpose, beneath the corresponding words of the 
copy. Afterwards, these readings were subjected to a rigid examination; the reading which afforded 
the strongest marks of being genuine was retained, and the others were expunged. 

We are indebted to the Abyssinian Church, not only for the ancient and valuable version of 
Scripture just described, but also for curious apocryphal writings, such as the Book of Enoch, the 
Book of Adam, the Ascension of Isaiah, etc., which have been found in no other Church; their date 
and origin are unknown. The Book of Enoch is by some supposed to be the book quoted in Jude 14; 
and although it has no claim whatever to be placed among the books of Scripture, it has excited much 
interest on account of its great antiquity, for it is supposed by Dr. Laurence, who has published both 
the original and a translation of it, to have been written about the close of the first century. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

From the peculiar character of the Abyssinians, and the strange mixture of Christianity, popery, 
and heathenism that prevails among them, few visible effects have as yet resulted from the publication 
of the Ethiopio Scriptures. The Scriptures have indeed been received with joy, yet little can be said 
as to any permanent change resulting from their perusal. " One day," said the devoted missionary, 
Mr. Gobat (now Bishop of Jerusalem), "I am all joy with the hope that in a short time the Abyssinian 
mission will be crowned with glorious success ; the following day I am cast down to the very dust by 
the idea that all attempts will be useless : for the Abyssinians very generally yield to the truth, but it 
is only for a while; they cannot make up their minds to quit so much as one of their customs." Thus 
faith is tried for a time; yet the promise is sure, that God's word shall not return to Him void, and the 
day perhaps is near when " Ethiopia will stretch out her hands unto God." The Mission maintained for 
several years in Abyssinia was relinquished in 1842, but it is gratifying to learn that subsequent open- 
ings have occurred for the introduction of the Christian Scriptures into that benighted land. In 1856, 
a supply of Ethiopic Scriptures (together with Amharic) was forwarded for distribution in Abyssinia, 
at the instance of Bishop Gobat. 



60 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

TIGRE. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. MAKE, Chap. ix. v. 9 to 15.* 

9 Wer enter worred horn ker el ambar, hu mucker horn inder hi negger er sevvi zer 
reiyer hom negger, shar el Wod der sewi tennessar ker el mote. 10 Wer liaz hom zer 
negger ov wost hom enter tiock hadda mis hadda munte marlet el tennessar ker el mote. 
n Wer tiock hu hom, Ber negger munte zer bel el sarfe tar Elias mussea fellermer. 12 Wer 
hu mellash wer negger hom, Elias be ack zer mussea fellermer wer hu melless coulu 
negger Hccar, wor comha zer ter sarf ov el Wod der sevvi ender hu carl buze er negger 
wer sedded hu be yelhem tyeavila. 13 Mai ane zer bel kar, Elias be Ack artou + artehu, 
wer gevver hom zer delleyea ov hum com zu ter sarf ov hum. u Wer shar enter mussea 
ov ariot hum, hu reiyer avviea mergavier cubhe hom, wer el sarfetart enter tiock mis hom. 
15 \y er gj^j. ghaj. cou lu souart, shar enter reiyer hom ler hum ter gurrem hom, wer weiyer 
ov hum ignersar + idnersar hum. 

t A term synonymous, or differing in orthography. 

ON THE TIGRE VERSION. 
In connection with the Etliiopic version of Scripture, that in Tigre requires consideration, for Tigre* 
is little else than vulgar Ethiopic. The province of Tigre is the most important of the three divisions 
(Tigre, Amhara, and Shoa) of Abyssinia. It lies directly north of Amhara, from which it is separated 
by the Tacazze, the largest tributary of the Nile. It has the form of an irregular trapezium, and com- 
prises about four degrees of latitude, and as many of longitude. During Mr. Jowett's residence in 
Egypt, in 1819, he superintended a translation of part of the New Testament into the vernacular of this 
extensive province. The person whom he employed to effect this translation was an Englishman, 
named Nathanael Pearce, a man of very eccentric character, but of extraordinary attainments in the 
dialects of the country. He had acquired varied and extensive information by constant wanderings 
through various countries; he had roamed through Russia and China; he had lived as a Mussulman 
in Arabia, and afterwards, for fourteen years, had resided as a Christian and a warrior in Abyssinia. 
He translated St. Mark and St. John ; but as, owing to his restless habits, he had never acquired skill 
in writing the Ethiopic character, he was obliged to write his translation in Roman characters. He 
regulated the orthography by his ear, spelling every word according to the sound. His MS. is in the 
possession of the British and Foreign Bible Society; it has never been published, and its comparative 
value is still unascertained. In 1831, part of St. Luke was translated by Mr. Kugler, a missionary of the 
Church Missionary Society, and on his death the work was continued by Mr. Isenberg of the same 
Society. Competent native assistance was obtained, but it does not appear that any part of this version 
has been committed to the press. The natives employed in this work translated from the Ethiopic 
Scriptures, and their translation was afterwards revised and corrected by the missionaries from the 
Greek original. 

* From the Tigre Version by Mr. Pearce, copied from the Appendix to a Catalogue of Ethiopic 
Biblical MSS., by Thomas Pell Piatt, Esq. 



Class II.] . AMHARIC. 61 



AMH AEIC. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 
ftf|«l>£-qo : g>^v : \m. :: 3>A9° : Yl AlKA-flri^C : Hl^" ; \f\d. :: 'SVIH.Aflih.CT : 
3>A : \l\d. ■•■ £*Yl : hn^^-q" : Yl^imvndi.C = H^ : \i\d. " U-A : flQV ■ W\ :: ? 
ACI>9° : hAlTl*!? : yu7W : YimCD* : M*A :: (t\£(D*l* : OClV = 5n^¥ :: ^(D't* 
9° : PrtCD- : -flC^^ : M4?f " 'nC' l J'i9 n = flCaA««J :.Pn£.A " EEIA ?"^ : A^ITCD* 
9° :: l"ia> : Ifl^ : YlMH.Aflfh.C : PTAYl : fl»n>*9o : P-fhTfl :: J&Tl : A^ffiVlC : °° 
*n = ATBC^I- A fJ °I^VlC"U*A: ncrf:^9 D T:Hl^-::>iCl> : 'nC' i n:?»^A9 n :: 
nC : *n : TAYl : A-flC^T : A^AftC -"^ffl-'iT?: -flC^I : \M, : Aft(D* : U-A : P 
"^IPIM. : (D£ :^A"?° : A a 9.oro"l(D' :: fl^A 1 ? : \l}£:: ^AOO 1 ?" : flO> : U"l - 1 
A 9° 9° : AAO)'!'^*? :: (D£ : (Dir*F : """1 :: (D'lr^T : AAT^nA^*?™ :: ATI* 
HA-I" : lhA : "l"i : flA«l*i : 1*1"^ 0>- : P'^^RA-nd^C : A^H 1 : £U"Y- : H'S.g- " «fl 
oo» : pon^ijm^iiInK^ : (DTI : .?.££ A : InM^ : d.^.R'f/ :Tni"l(D. a 7» = owCD'E.K':: 
IX ■ T* • Yl^TRA-lldtC = TCDAK, • : S'AT : J^J : ITl : 11^9° : ?»£«» :: *HI<,"1 
9° : API : A.1.R- :"Kl£ = «n»lfl- : *VI1C : In Ml :: R3 : "SUD-lTS" : PouAnl* :: 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL PREDOMINANCE OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Amharic is properly only the vernacular dialect of Amhara, a division or kingdom of Abyssinia lying 
west and south of the Tacazze, and measuring about 112 miles from east to west, by forty in breadth. 
From the circumstance, however, of its being the language of Gondar, the capital, and the native 
dialect of the reigning family, Amharic predominates far beyond the limits of Amhara, and by its aid 
a traveller can make himself understood throughout Abyssinia. Amharic is also extensively used as a 
medium of intercourse with Negro and other tribes from the interior of Africa, who frequent the north 
of that continent. 

II.-tCHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Amharic is a degenerated Shemitic language, having to all appearance lost many of its original 
characteristics by admixture with African dialects. In grammatical structure it varies considerably 
from the Ethiopic, but above half the words are still the same in both languages. The Ethiopic alpha- 
bet is used in writing Amharic, but seven additional consonants have been adopted to represent the 
compound Amharic sounds. 

III. — AMHARIC VERSION OF SCRIPTURE. 

The earliest attempts to translate portions of Scripture into Amharic were made by the Romish 
missionaries, but the date and comparative value of their productions are unknown, for the MSS. have 
never been seen in Europe, neither is it now known what has become of them. The Gospel of St. Mark 
was translated by Mr. Pearce, under the superintendence of the Eev. Mr. Jowett, and this MS., written 
in Roman characters, is now in the possession of the British and Foreign Bible Society. An Amharic 
version of the entire Scriptures, which has superseded all others, was commenced about 1810 by 
M. Asselin de Cherville, French consul at Cairo. After many fruitless inquiries for a person competent 



62 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. 

to aid him in the acquisition of the language, he was providentially directed to an old man named Ahu 
Eumi, whom he eventually engaged to translate the Scriptures. " Imagine," said M. Asselin, " my 
surprise in finding in this poor old man a person master of the literature of his country ; a traveller who 
had penetrated the most remote regions of Asia ; the instructor of Bruce and of Sir William Jones." 
Abu Rumi was well qualified for the work of translation by his acquaintance with Arabic, Greek, 
Persian, and several other languages besides his own. He executed his version under the immediate 
direction of M. Asselin; twice a week, during a period often years, they secluded themselves from all 
other occupations, and read together the Arabic version from which the translation was to be made. 
M. Asselin explained such terms as were abstruse, difficult, or foreign to the Arabic, by reference to 
the original text, the Syriac version, the Septuagint, and various glossaries, but Abu Rumi also often 
found the key to them in the Ethiopic itself. In the early portions of the work, M. Asselin declared 
that he had often occasion to admire the patience of his aged companion; but when they came to the 
Epistles of St. Paul, Abu Rumi's zeal began to cool, the difficulty of the task frightened him, he wanted 
to set off for Jerusalem, and it was only by dint of time, care and sacrifices, that M. Asselin convinced 
him of the necessity of not leaving the work imperfect. It may not be uninteresting to mention that 
this poor old man, immediately on the completion of his work, executed his favourite project of visiting 
Jerusalem, and was cut off by the plague soon after his arrival. The version was sold by M. Asselin 
to the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Rev. Mr. Jowett was employed by the Society in 
carrying on the negotiation, and in 1820 he undertook a journey from Malta to Cairo to effect the 
purchase. The purchase money was £1250. The MS. was brought to England in 1821, and was 
read with much approbation by those acquainted with the language. Dr. Lee, in a letter addressed 
to the Bible Committee, dated 1822, says, " the work appears to have been executed with uncommon 
ability and accuracy. There is no attempt whatever to display the learning of the translator by any 
of that verbiage so common to all the languages of the East, but all is precise, easy, and natural." In 
1824 the Gospels were carried through the press by Dr. Lee, Mr. Jowett, and Mr. Piatt, and in 1829 
the entire Amharic Testament was completed. In 1840 the Old Testament was published, and in 
1842 an edition of the whole Scriptures. In superintending the printing of these editions, Mr. Piatt 
carefully compared Abu Rumi's edition with the original Greek and Hebrew, and inserted such correc- 
tions as seemed indispensably requisite, leaving a more complete revision for a future opportunity. 
A second edition of the Pentateuch was afterwards printed, in which, with the assistance of the Rev. 
C. Isenberg, formerly a missionary in Abyssinia, such a revision was to a great extent accomplished. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

There are more impediments to the saving influence of the Scriptures in this nominally Christian 
land, than in many idolatrous countries. The moral and mental condition of the people is deplorable. 
Polygamy prevails to a considerable extent, and they are the victims of many degrading superstitions. 
All afflictions they attribute to the immediate influence of devils and of witchcraft. The life of Mr. (now 
Bishop) Gobat was once nearly sacrificed by the prevalence of these superstitious notions; he was ill, and 
those among whom he laboured, and who were sincerely attached to him, instead of giving him assistance, 
crowded round him, some holding his hands, others his feet, while one amongst them was engaged in 
thrusting into his ears, mouth, and nostrils, nauseous substances which they called medicines. Yet the 
Abyssinians have not been found unwilling to confess the absurdity of their opinions when confronted 
with the light of Scriptural truth. They invariably bow to the authority of Scripture. On one occa- 
sion, a monk went to the missionaries with a very self-righteous air, but apparently very ill. The 
account he gave of himself was as follows: — " Being the son of a Governor," he said, "and somewhat 
at ease, I lived many years in sin. At length, my conscience was awakened, and I began to fear the 
wrath of God. My agony and terror increased continually; and I did not know what to do;" (for he 
dared not to call upon the name of the Lord, having never heard of the way of salvation by the merits 
of Christ,) " at last I determined to leave secretly my wife and my children, and all that I had, and to 



Class II.] AMHARIC. 63 

retire into a wilderness which was inhabited only by wild beasts. There I lived many months upon 
roots, talcing only just as much as was necessary to keep me alive. As I could find no peace for my 
heart, I determined to stand in a river of cold water from sunset to sunrise ; which I did for a long time. 
I next bound my ankles so fast with a chain that I have ever since been unable to walk without very 
great pain. Finally, I inflicted a number of stripes every day on my body, the source of my sins, till 
it was covered all over with putrifying wounds. This," he added, "has ruined my health, but I console 
myself with the idea that I have done all this for God's sake." When Mr. Gobat told him that all 
those self-inflicted sufferings were the result of ignorance and pride, and therefore sinful, and that it 
was altogether impossible to find true relief by means of any expedient of that kind, he trembled for 
fear; but when some passages from the Epistles of St. Paul and other parts of Scripture were repeated to 
him, which testify that by grace we are saved through faith, not of ourselves, for it is the gift of God, the 
poor man was quite astonished, and cried out, " Is it possible? and can I yet be saved?" " I had des- 
paired," he afterwards said, " of finding peace with God: I determined therefore, if possible, to secure 
a good name among my fellow-men; and for that purpose I have been going about for some time, 
exhorting people to live better. But now I will read the gospel, and seek for the way of salvation in 
the Word of God." There are many other instances of the readiness with which the Abyssinians 
receive the testimony of Scripture. 

The learned Bishop of Jerusalem, by whom the foregoing narrative is recorded, says that when he 
first began to distribute copies of the vernacular Scriptures among the people, they evinced little desire 
to receive them, being afraid of being deceived. By placing some copies for distribution in the hands 
of the priests, these suspicions were removed, and people immediately came, earnestly requesting to 
be furnished with the Word of God. " If," continues he, " I had had some thousands of New 
Testaments, I could have distributed them to eager readers. I know some instances where persons 
have given all their property in order to purchase a copy of the New Testament : one man who had 
two oxen gave them for a copy of the Four Gospels; and another man gave four oxen in exchange for 
the Four Gospels." 

In a letter addressed to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1849, the Bishop 
of Jerusalem instances a highly interesting result in connection with the Amharic version of the Scriptures. 
Writing from Jerusalem, his lordship says, " You will remember that, about two years ago, I asked for 
some Amharic Bibles, which your committee had the kindness to grant. But when the Bibles arrived, 
the Abyssinian individuals for whom I chiefly cared had left Jerusalem, and as, for a long time, I did 
not observe an earnest desire for the word of God among the Abyssinians here, I gave only now and 
then a New Testament, but no Bible; until, a few months ago, the very same individuals for whom 
I had desired Amharic Bibles, but who had since left for their own country, returned, with letters to 
me from the King of Abyssinia and a good number of the most influential men in that country, 
begging me to take the Abyssinian convent here and its inmates under my special superintendence. 
This, to a certain degree, as far as my power goes, I have accepted; and now I have the pleasure of 
informing you that, for several weeks past, all the Abyssinians here, to the number of above seventy, 
meet three times every day together, to have the Bible read to them by three of their priests in their 
own vernacular language. I cannot yet speak of fruits, but I have reason to hope for some." 

Later testimony from the same source encourages the hope that further openings will be speedily 
afforded for a fuller introduction of the Scriptures into that country. It appears that there is a dis- 
position on the part of the people to accept and peruse the Sacred Volume; and it is stated that the 
present King of Abyssinia adopts the admirable practice of daily reading the Scriptures in the ver- 
nacular Amharic. We learn from the Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society for the present 
year (1860) that an edition of 2000 copies of the Amharic version of the Psalms has just been com- 
menced, under the editorial care of Dr. Krapf, at the instance of the Bishop of Jerusalem. 



CLASS IIL-INDO-EUEOPEAN LANGUAGES. 

A. M EDO-PERSIAN FAMILY. 



PEES I AN. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14* 
I. — EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The kingdom of Iran or Persia Proper (in Persian, Fars and Iran), lies between 26° and 39° north latitude, 
and 44° and 62° east longitude. Its inhabitants are divided into two distinct classes, the Taujiks or 
aboriginal inhabitants of the country (whose number has been estimated by Fraser at about 7,000,000), 
and the Ilyats or Eilauts, a collective name given to the nomadic tribes by whom a considerable part 
of Persia is occupied. The latter comprise perhaps a fourth part of the entire population of the king- 
dom, and have been estimated at about two and a half millions. Of these tribes, some are of Persian, 
and others of Turkish, Mongolian, AfFghan, and Arabic origin; the languages spoken in Persia are 

* From the Persian Version, by Henry Martyn, 8vo., published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1846. 



Class III.] PERSIAN. 65 

therefore as numerous as the races by whom it is peopled. Turkish is predominant in the northern and 
western provinces, although the natives are likewise acquainted with Persian. The Rev. H. Southgate, 
an American missionary, remarked that in his travels through these provinces he never once found 
it necessary to resort to Persian in his conversations with the people. The Taujiks, whose vernacular is 
invariably Persian, form the main population of Fars, and of almost all the towns of Persia. But the 
Persian language is predominant far beyond the regions of Persia Proper. In India it is spoken at all 
the Mohammedan courts; and it is, or was till very recently, the language adopted by the British 
Government in all judicial proceedings throughout Hindoostan. It is the vernacular language of the 
ancient Transoxiana, and indeed of the whole of Turkestan, now subject to the Usbec Tartars; in this 
country the Taujiks possess four independent governments in which pure Persian is spoken. Generally 
speaking, however, the Taujiks do not dwell together in corporate societies like other nations, but dis- 
perse themselves over the regions adjacent to their native land, and adopt the dress and customs of the 
dominant race in the countries in which they sojourn. They are said to be scattered as far as Tibet, 
and to have been met with in Chinese Turkestan. In Affghanistan they have been calculated by 
Elphinstone to number 1,500,000, and the Kohistan of Cabul is occupied almost solely by them. 

The religion of the Taujiks is Mohammedanism; but Soofeeism, or free- thinking, a species of 
infidelity akin to the rationalism of Germany, is extremely prevalent among them. The entire Moham- 
medan population of Persia, however, belongs to the Sheeite sect of the Mohammedan faith, which regards 
Ali as the legitimate successor of the Arabian prophet, and refuses to recognise the three caliphs who 
immediately followed Mohammed. There are also about 2,300 families of Guebres or fire- worshippers 
in Persia, and on the western coast of India there are about 200,000 individuals belonging to this 
ancient sect. These Guebres or Parsees of India now form one of the most valuable classes of the 
subjects of Britain; their ancestors are believed to have fled thither when Persia fell under the 
Mohammedan yoke, and the books and sacred fire which they brought with them are still religiously 
preserved. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The origin of the Persian language dates from the invasion of the Arabs in the seventh century. 
Prior to that period, various idioms prevailed throughout the Persian empire, of which the principal 
were the Pehlvi, the Farsi or Parsi, and the Deri. The Pehlvi, rude and masculine in structure, was 
closely allied to Chaldee, and was the dialect of Media properly so called, while the Farsi or Parsi was 
the language of Persia Proper, and its sub-dialect the Deri was the polished idiom of the court. Modern 
Persian was gradually formed during the long dominion of the Saracens in Persia, by admixture of the 
Parsi and Deri elements with the language of the conquerors. But the primitive type of the whole 
Persian family is undoubtedly the Zend, a language belonging to the same stem as the Sanscrit. Con- 
cerning the period during which this ancient tongue was vernacular, history is silent ; but it appears 
to have been the language of Zoroaster and of the Magi, and to have been once predominant in the 
west of India among the worshippers of the sun. Modern Persian, although greatly adulterated with 
other languages, still retains abundant evidences of its descent from the Zend. The numerous and 
important points of affinity which united the Zend with the Sanscrit, are not all obliterated in Persian. 
All the Indian words which occur in Persian are, however, characterised by their abbreviated form, and 
it is rare in this language to meet with an unmutilated Sanscrit term, for the final letters are generally 
cut off, and words of two syllables reduced to one. The Persian, like its parent the Zend, is more allied 
than any of the other Asiatic languages to the Germanic family; in fact, the entire fabric of the etymology 
of German and its cognate dialects is based upon the Persian. Of the 12,000 radical words composing 
the Persian language, 4,000 are found with more or less change in the Germanic dialects, and a striking 
conformity prevails even in the inflections of these languages. The termination of the infinitive of 
verbs in the Persian is ten and den, the en of the German, and the eiv of the Greek. The termination 
of the plural in Persian for men and animated beings is the syllable an, corresponding with the plural 

6 



66 INDO-EUEOPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

termination n of the German. Comparatives are formed in Persian, as in German, by the addition of the 
syllable ter or er ; for instance, the Persian adjective signifying good, in the comparative forms behter, 
in German bessei', and in English better. The pronouns and numerals in German and in Persian are also 
etymologically connected. With respect to the personal terminations of the verbs, the Persian sometimes 
follows the German, sometimes the Sanscrit, and sometimes the Greek or Latin forms. The future 
tense is formed as in English by the aid of an auxiliary, and the passive is formed according to the 
same analogy, by placing the past participle of the active verb before the different tenses and modes 
of an auxiliary. The affinity of the Persian with the other members of the great Indo-European class 
of languages is to be traced even in the particles of composition. The Persian a represents the Greek 
privative a; and Von Hammer has not hesitated to say that this same particle also occasionally cor- 
responds in meaning with the Greek arrro and irrl, and the German an, ab and auf. The Persian ba, 
he says is the German bey, and English by. The particle pes in Persian he considers equivalent to post 
in Latin, and the Persian negative particles ne and me, equivalent to the Latin ne and the Greek /jlt). 
Persian also resembles Greek, German, and English, in its power of compounding words; and in the 
variety and elegance of its compoimd adjectives it is said even to surpass these languages. The Persian 
adjectives are compounded in three ways; by placing a substantive before a contracted particle, by 
prefixing an adjective to a substantive, and, lastly, by adding one substantive to another. The com- 
binations produced according to these three forms are exceedingly numerous, and sometimes highly 
poetical : they are often used, especially in the plural number, as substantives without any noun being 
employed, and so melodious are they accounted by the Persian poets, that an entire distich is frequently 
filled with them. 

The great beauty of the Persian language consists in its softness and extreme simplicity; its style 
of phraseology is natural and easy, and capable of being reduced to few rules. In this simplicity of 
construction, in harmony of sound, in facility of versification, and in consequent adaptation for poetry, 
the Persian resembles the Italian; indeed it has been justly styled the " Italian of the East." It has 
been said that the crown of Persian literature is its poetry: the same perhaps is true of the Italian; and 
in connection with the several points of resemblance between these two languages, both with regard to 
their present development and to their origin and early history, it is rather a striking fact, and a subject 
for inquiry to a psychologist, that a remarkable similarity of sentiment and imagery pervades the 
works of Persian and Italian poets. This similarity has been repeatedly pointed out, and the sonnets 
of Petrarch have been compared to those of Sadi. Another prominent feature of the Persian language 
is its intimate admixture with Arabic words and idioms. Turkish words also occur in Persian, but 
scarcely a line or sentence is to be met with free from some words either purely Arabic, or of Arabic 
origin. This, however, varies in different authors; and pure Persian is not overloaded with Arabic; 
in like manner as pure English is more " Saxon" than either " Latin" or " Greek"-English. The 
peculiar forms of the plural called broken, imperfect, or irregular plurals, which characterise the Arabic 
and Ethiopic languages, are borrowed by the Persian; and Arabic syntax is sedulously studied by all 
who desire to write the Persian language with correctness. 

III. — ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. 

The primitive alphabetical system of the Persian empire seems to have consisted of a peculiar set 
of characters called from their form arrow-headed, and cuneiform or wedge-shaped. Specimens of 
these characters have been found in ancient inscriptions on monuments of stone, and sometimes on 
bricks at Pcrscpolis, and in the west of Persia. The efforts that have been made of late years in the 
study of the Zend, have tended to facilitate the decyphering of these inscriptions, the language in which 
they are written being an ancient and long extinct idiom closely connected with the Zend. The Persians 
since the time of the Saracen conquest have used the Arabic letters, which they write, like the Arabs, 
from right to left. Their alphabet consists of thirty-two characters, of which four are peculiar to their 
language: on the other hand, eight of the Arabic characters have no corresponding sound in Persian; 






Class III.] PERSIAN. 67 

for instance the tli of the Arabs is pronounced like s in Persia, just as the Polish Jews pronounce n : 
these eight letters ai - e nevertheless retained in Persian writings, and are useful in showing the derivation 
of words, for they are seldom or never found in any word not purely Arabic. 

IV. — VERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 

An ancient version of the Scriptures existed in the language formerly spoken in the Persian 
empire; but of this version, and even of the particular dialect in which it was written, we have little 
or no information beyond the casual allusions of Chrysostom and Theodoret. Christianity was early 
established in Persia, for Constantine the Great wrote to Sapor, king of that country, in behalf of the 
Christian churches in his dominions. The Elamites present on the day of Pentecost doubtless carried 
back the Christian doctrine with them, and we are assured of a Bishop of Persia being at the Council 
of Nice. 

The oldest version existing in the modern Persian language is probably that of the Pentateuch 
contained in the London Polyglot. This Pentateuch is believed to have been translated by Rabbi 
Jacob, a Jew, who, on account of his having come from a city called Tus, was surnamed Tusius or 
Tawosus. The period of its execution is unknown, but it certainly was translated subsequently to the 
eighth century, for Babel in Gen. 10. 10, is rendered Bagdad. The translation is supposed to have 
been made from the Syriac, but it follows the Hebrew pretty closely. It was first printed at Constan- 
tinople in 1546, accompanied with the Hebrew text, the Chaldee Targum of Onkelos, and the Arabic 
version of Saadias Gaon. The only other portion of Persian Scriptures contained in the London 
Polyglot consists of the four Gospels, supposed to have been written at Kaffa, a town of the Crimea, 
about A.D. 1341, by a Eoman Catholic. This translation is evidently from the Peshito, as is proved by 
many internal evidences, but it is interpolated with readings from the Vulgate, and even from Romish 
rituals and legends. If it had been free from these glosses and additions, it would have furnished valuable 
aid in the criticism of the Peshito. Another edition of the Persian Gospels was commenced under the 
care of Wheeloc, Professor of Arabic at Cambridge, and at his death superintended by Pierson. This 
edition left the press in 1657. The editors used the very MS. from which the Gospels in the London 
Polyglot were printed; and although they possessed two other MSS., of which one is supposed to have 
contained a version from the Greek, yet they confounded them all together, and appealed to the Syro- 
Persian text in the formation of their own. Le Long speaks of another version of the Persian Gospels, 
which he says was transcribed in 1388, from an original of much older date, and sent by Jerome 
Xavier, a Jesuit, from Agra to the Collegium Romanum. Yet it is recorded of this same Xavier, that 
at the request of Akbar, emperor of the Moguls, to be furnished with the Scriptures in Persian, he 
merely feigned compliance, and with the aid of a Persian compiled a life of Christ, partly from the 
Gospels, and partly from Romish legends, which, when presented to the emperor, only served to excite 
derision. This production was printed by De Dieu, at Leyden, in 1639. The next attempt to procure 
a version of the Scriptures in Persian was made by Nadir Shah. This emperor was desirous of procuring 
a translation of the Gospels, the Psalms, and the prophecies of Jeremiah, on account of the references 
made in the Koran to the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, and with this view he summoned several 
Armenian bishops and priests, Romish missionaries, and Persian moollahs, to Ispahan. The Armenians, 
from their imperfect acquaintance with the Persian language, were unable to take any efficient part in 
the translation, the whole of which, in consequence, devolved upon the Romish and Mohammedan 
priests : between them they effected their work by the aid of an ancient Arabic and other versions, but 
it was dressed up with all the glosses which the Koran could warrant, and the Romish priests made 
such use as they could of the Vulgate. When the work was presented to Nadir Shah, he turned it 
into ridicule, and declared that he could himself make a better religion than any that had yet been pro- 
duced. If this story be true, the version sometimes found in the hands of the Armenian priests in 
India, may be safely conjectured to be the same as that of Nadir: a copy of this version was shown to 
the Rev. Henry Martyn, who remarked that he did not wonder at the emperor's contempt of it. 



68 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

As the style in which the Gospels of the Polyglot are written has long been antiquated at Ispahan, 
several efforts have been made during the present century to produce a version in the polished dialect 
now spoken by the Persians. A translation of the four Gospels was made under the superintendence 
of Colonel Colebrooke, and printed at Calcutta in 1804. Our accounts of this work are very meagre, 
and it never seems to have obtained much circulation. In 1812 the Kev. L. Sebastiani had advanced 
nearly to the end of the Epistles, in a translation of the New Testament from the Greek, and during 
the same year 1000 copies of the Gospels of this version were printed at Serampore by order of the 
Calcutta Auxiliary Bible Society. Sebastiani had been many years resident at the court of Persia, and 
his version was chiefly designed for the use of the Christians dispersed in Persia. 

In the meantime another translation of the whole of the New Testament had been progressing at 
Dinapore, under the superintendence of Henry Martyn. The translators were Sabat and Mirza 
Fitrut : the former had previously been employed in this translation at Serampore, and the latter by 
Colonel Colebrooke. This version was completed in 1808, but it was found to be so replete with Arabic 
and abstruse terms intelligible only to the learned, that the Rev. Henry Martyn determined upon visiting 
Persia in person, that he might there obtain the means of producing a clear and idiomatic version. In 
1811 he reached Shiraz, the seat of Persian literature, and remained there nearly a year. He was 
received with much friendship by some of the principal men of the city, who expressed the warmest 
sympathy for the man of God, as they habitually designated our missionary. When the weather became 
too intense for his enfeebled frame to bear the extreme heat of the city, Jaffier AH Khan, a Persian 
noble, pitched a tent for him in a delightful garden beyond the wall, and here he executed from the 
original Greek a translation of the New Testament, remarkable not only for its strict fidelity to the 
text, but for its astonishing conformity to the niceties of the Persian idiom. By the Persians themselves 
this work has been designated "a masterpiece of perfection;" and while other Oriental versions have 
been superseded by more accurate translations, the Persian and Hindustani Testaments of this accom- 
plished scholar are at this day in higher repute than ever. On the accomplishment of his object, he 
found that his constitution had been completely shattered by the effects of the climate and extreme 
exertion, and he attempted to return to England, but expired during his journey homewards, at Tokat, 
a commercial city of Asia Minor, in 1812. Copies of the work which had caused the sacrifice 
of his valuable life were deposited with Sir Gore Ouseley, the English ambassador in Persia. One copy 
was presented to the King of Persia, who in a letter written on the occasion, expressed his approbation 
of the work. On returning to England by way of St. Petersburg, Sir Gore Ouseley met with P ince 
Galitzin, and it was suggested that the Prince, who was at the head of the Russian Bible Society, should 
cause an edition of Marty n's Testament to be printed at St. Petersburg, for circulation in the provinces 
of Western Persia. The impression was completed in less than six months, and consisted of 5000 
copies. 

In 1813 a communication was received by the Corresponding Committee at Calcutta from Meer 
Seid Ali, the learned native employed by the Rev. Henry Martyn at Shiraz, in which, with many 
expressions of regret for the loss of his excellent master, he informed the Committee that the MS. of 
the Persian New Testament and of the Psalms (which had likewise been translated at Shiraz) was in 
his possession, and that he waited their orders as to its disposal. He was directed by the Committee 
first to take four correct copies of the MS., that no risk might be incurred in the transmission of so 
great a treasure, and then to forward the MS. to Calcutta, whither he was invited himself for the 
purpose of superintending the publication. The Psalter and New Testament passed through the press 
at Calcutta in 1816. The Psalter was reprinted in London, under the editorship of Dr. Lee, in 1824; 
and the New Testament, edited by the same distinguished scholar, was published in London in 1827. 
This Testament was reprinted in London in 1837; and an edition of 3000 copies was printed at 
Edinburgh in 1847, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in order to accompany 
an edition of the Old Testament, which, as we shall presently have occasion to mention, was then 
passing through the press in that city. 



Class III.] PERSIAN. 69 

Of all these editions of Martyn's Testament, the most incorrect seems to have been that printed at 
St. Petersburg in 1815. This impression was so defaced with errors that the missionaries deemed it 
useless, and at their request the issue was stopped by the Russian Bible Society. The Rev. William 
Glen, of the Scottish Mission at Astrakhan, was in consequence led to undertake a version of the 
Psalms in Persian, for the benefit of the numerous individuals speaking that language who resort for 
purposes of trade to Astrakhan and the south of Russia. In preparing his version, Mr. Glen first 
made a literal translation of the Hebrew text, which he submitted, with due explanations, to his 
teacher; it was then the office of the latter to give as exact a representation of the sense as possible in 
classical Persian: his production was then revised and compared with the original by Mr. Glen. In 
1826, the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society made arrangements with the Scottish 
Missionary Society for the services of Mr. Glen at Astrakhan, in making a translation of the poetical and 
prophetical books of the Old Testament. In the meanwhile, Mirza Jaffier had been engaged by the 
same Society to produce a version of the historical books of the Old Testament at St. Petersburg, 
under the eye of Dr. Pinkerton, and according to specific directions sent out for the purpose by 
Dr. Lee. The only portion of Mirza Jaffier's version which appears to have been published is the 
book of Genesis, printed in London in 1827, under the care of Dr. Lee. Mr. Glen's version of the 
Psalms and Proverbs was revised by Mr. Greenfield, assisted by Mr. Seddon, and published in London 
in 1830-31; the edition consisted of 1000 copies, and another edition appeared in 1836. The entire 
Old Testament, translated by Mr. Glen, was eventually printed at Edinburgh, under the auspices of 
the Committee of Foreign Missions connected with the United Associate Synod of Scotland, and the 
British and Foreign Bible Society contributed £500 towards its publication; the edition left the press 
in 1847. 

In consequence of a grant by the British and Foreign Bible Society in aid of the translation 
department of Bishop's College, Calcutta, the Rev. T. Robinson (then chaplain at Poonah, but after- 
wards archdeacon) applied for the sanction of the Bishop of Calcutta to a projected version of the Old 
Testament in Persian ; and on its being ascertained that the design fell within the terms of the grant, 
the translation was commenced in 1824. The Pentateuch was completed and printed at Calcutta in 
1830, and in 1838 the entire Old Testament was finished; the translation is from the original text, 
and is accounted faithful and accurate. A Persian version of the prophecy of Isaiah was purchased 
by the British and Foreign Bible Society, for the sum of £100, in 1833. This version had been 
executed by the Mirza Ibraham, of the East India College at Haileybury, and revised by Mr. Johnson, 
one of the professors of that College. The translator took the English Authorised Version for a basis, 
and adhered to it as far as it expresses faithfully the sense of the original. Being well acquainted 
with both Hebrew and Arabic, he made it a rule to use in his translation an Arabic word of the same 
root with the original, where such a word had been adopted into Persian ; and in rendering the sense 
of difficult passages, he first consulted our English version, then turned to the original Hebrew and 
compared it with the Arabic, and finally discussed the question with some of the members of the 
College, besides referring to several commentators. In 1834 an edition of this book was published 
by the Society, under the care of Mr. Johnson. In 1841 -the attention of the Calcutta Committee 
was occupied in lithographing an edition of the Scriptures in the Persian character, a method deemed 
preferable to the former system of Arabic type printing. In 1842, 5000 lithographed New Testaments 
of Martyn's version left the Calcutta press; and in 1844, 5000 copies of Genesis and part of Exodus, 
of Archdeacon Robinson's translation, were also lithographed. 

V. — KESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

The work of distributing the Scriptures has been very extensively prosecuted in Persia: the 

portion which has there gone into widest circulation is Martyn's Testament; and a recent traveller 

declares that this inestimable work has made its way by single copies into many houses in Persia, and 

that he found persons acquainted with it in every city through which he passed. The Scriptures 



70 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

have not yet effected any general change in Persia, but individual instances are not wanting of their 
blessed influence. A writer in the Asiatic Journal states, that once, at a convivial meeting in Persia 
where religious questions were being discussed, he chanced to express his opinions with a considerable 
degree of levity. He was immediately afterwards startled by perceiving the eyes of one of the guests 
fixed upon him with a peculiar and piercing expression of surprise, regret, and reproof. On inquiry, 
he found this person to be by name Mohammed Kameh, a man of great learning and high moral endow- 
ments; he had, it was said, been educated as a moollah, but had never officiated, and led a life of 
retirement. The writer obtained an interview with him, in which Mohammed avowed himself a Chris- 
tian, and related the history of his conversion in nearly the following terms: — " In the year 1223 of 
the Hejira, there came to this city an Englishman who taught the religion of Christ with a boldness 
hitherto unparalleled in Persia, in the midst of much scorn and ill-treatment from our moollahs as well 
as the rabble. He was a beardless youth, and evidently enfeebled with disease. I was then a decided 
enemy to infidels, and I visited the teacher of the despised sect with the declared object of treating him 
with scorn, and exposing his doctrines to contempt. These evil feelings gradually subsided beneath 
the influence of his gentleness, and just before he quitted Shiraz I paid him a parting visit. Our con- 
versation — the memory of it will never fade from the tablets of my memory — sealed my conversion. 
He gave me a book : it has ever been my constant companion ; the study of it has formed my most 
delightful occupation." Upon this Mohammed brought out a copy of the New Testament in Persian ; 
on one of the blank leaves was written — " There is joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth. — 
Henry Martyn." 

The Persian Scriptures have been likewise distributed in the countries adjacent to Persia, where, 
as has been above stated, vast numbers of people speaking the Persian language are dispersed. The 
following instance of the blessing of God on this version occurred in Hindoostan in 1844. " I am 
thankful to tell you," (writes the Eev. A. Sternberg), "of a Hindoo, who two months ago was 
baptized by me, having been brought to a thorough conviction of the truth of our religion only 
by reading, by himself, a Persian New Testament which he had got at Cuttach some months previous. 
He was a Kaith, and was well acquainted with the common creed of Mohammedans and its errors 
before he became acquainted with Christianity. In the commencement of the year 1844, he 
undertook a pilgrimage to Jagganath; on his return he received a Persian New Testament from a 
missionary preaching in a Bazaar Chapel at Cuttack; but he did not touch it for fear. On his arrival 
at Arrah, he was obliged to stop on account of his wife's and child's illness. Now the time was come: 
he had leisure, and began to read his Persian Testament, and instantly he was struck with the truth of 
the word. Only one passage made him stop a little, the term ' Son of God : ' when his Mohammedan 
prejudices on this subject had been removed, he applied for baptism; since that period," continues 
Mr. Sternberg, " he has shown such deep knowledge of all the principal doctrines of faith, as well as 
a thorough change of sentiment, that he was and is to me, who was very far from expecting to see a 
Hindoo truly converted, a most seasonable evidence of the mighty power of the written word of God. 
He has had no teacher; the reading of the Word alone has converted him. It is encouraging to find 
again the saying true, ' one soweth and another reapeth.' " 



Glass III.] JUD^EO-PERSIAN. 71 

JUDJO-PEESIAN. 

SPECIMEN", EEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

in jNam * j no tro nab jstt mi Nni in nab }ni nab NnniN nn TO 
wi pa tn na avi in m van n^ maia in n&NDii pa nm 3 : mi Nni ma NnniN 

: in JNDaN "NM8T! H^n JN1 mi nx'n IN VI 4 j nsN^a TIJ1 JlDN m^ maia m 

j B^nfiN* ^aa nn »mni wrn *a ^nxn nn wen jxi s 
"ira ini 7 : mi n*v K>aDN m nns? nnNnDis Nni aw tn m mi ♦xip 6 
para in n&NDii nan ni jn nh nnn ma jn in nnNna> ni ;n Nn naN niNne? 
: nnm hnxn^ stoen tn ni ni mi max nib nna **uB>n mi ini 8 : mniN 
: naNnv *a maa vn *a nn jNnai ro nidi nn ni noN jn »ppn wem 9 
jnxni "idii n : roN3» *aa ^aNnai n^a mns in n&NDii jNnai mi }Nna in t/ni 10 
ni nNn mnp Nn jnb»n Bnanarna ni naai 12 : ^nanirnsa }N£"ni naN £»ii 
tn |N£tn nmni 13 : nanniN tn^n ^aDNi ni nanii ;n&tni nawi Nni jNnans 
nil Nni tn nva nib nna 'aNDia ptiwdi ^Naoa £>nNii tni ttfeja 
jni en nd nvn ^ani nina nxnp Na jN^a in mc DDaa nab }ni u 

: mi TiDN-n ^Nnnna tn nsi nil nns tuns* nnow ni nil ^an 

Nearly all the Jews who are settled in Persia and in Bokhara speak the Persian language, which 
they are able to read and write only in the Hebrew character. The Rev. Mr. Pfander, when in con- 
nection with the Basle Missionary Society, made application for means to print the Persian Scriptures 
in Hebrew characters for the benefit of these Jews ; but he was soon afterwards removed from Shushi, 
in Southern Russia, where he was stationed at the period of his making that request, and, for a time 
at least, the project was in consequence dropped. In 1841, Dr. Hasberlin applied to some Christian 
friends for aid in imparting the Scriptures to the Persian Jews; and in reply he received from Herat 
a copy of Martyn's Persian New Testament, written in Hebrew characters, under the care of Dr. Login, 
who stated that the Jews had frequently asked him for the Scriptures in this form. Dr. Hseberlin 
laid the version before the Calcutta Committee, and they agreed to refer the means of printing it to 
the consideration of the Parent Society. Their application was promptly met by a request, on the 
part of the latter Society, to print an edition of 2000 Xew Testaments in this form ; and it was arranged 
that the edition should be carried through the press at Calcutta, under the eye of the Rev. Dr. Yates. 
The death, however, of that lamented missionary rendered this plan abortive; and in 1845 the Bombay 
Auxiliary Society transmitted to London MS. copies of the Judaeo- Persian Gospels, of which an edition 
of 1000 copies was completed in London in 1847, under the superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Wilson, 
of Bombay. 



72 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

PUSHTOO. 

SPECIMEN, EROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 
j^ *j ^jAJjj* uf^ 3 ***$ * JJ ^ ^^ ^ L5? tr^ U^ ***$ ^ ''Vi *f" < ** j y>jJ*> J^ tJj*^ ^, L5*^ 

c^ s^^hi* l^^ c^ *J ^ *** s^^ryj *** * ^^5 jUa*1 &kvi~<u^ *j\j &~>~ a\. *J ^A&li 

jLcs-j j^jaj axis * AJhw*3 j ci-j Ujfc> j^ xji, ^jjo &ku>-*jJ U3c> jl *j j^ii ^ J< V *** * hfj 
J**i> J j&, ** *J y& j£= JjJw ; *>- y& J^J * Jj JjW njid j&S- jb^- 3 \ ^j\j jy,y 

Jj^aJ I* <kku£- yjj<d *>-**,] jj£jjjj\j ^Uj! Jjei- <ub<u ^JhuSjj &j>£ j! jo^ ^jtfLj 
^jp-j^ ^a>- *j& j] * ^ ^jjo <tj!je>-aj ^^Oj ^ aj Ijjj a.sn.A ^j^W j -i jb Asa». ^j^dtl ^U. 
\iXjj *jjj ^jlo jJwij j! <Ubjj jjuG" iJ jj^ apj^& ,_?ji) <tSj <Lk\^ <C- lV« <d jl ^b^aj j\ xj«s 

* iOoJj 4i&o ^cJj! ^Jjj* *;1><>J tjiyj ^j-l 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Affghans, a warlike and semibarbarous nation, inhabit Affghanistan, a mountainous territory 
lying south and south-west of Hindoo Koosb. They are probably the Ucuctoi mentioned by Herodotus. 
They call themselves Pushtaneh, the plur. of Pashtan, whence, by a corruption of the word, they are styled 
by the Indians Patans. Their language is termed Pushtoo or Pukhtoo. They received the designation 
of Affghans from the Persians, by which name alone they are known in Europe. According to Elphin- 
stone, the number of Affghans residing in Affghanistan, and within the limits of the ancient kingdom 
of Cabul, amounts to 4,300,000. In Affghanistan itself, be remarks, there is scarcely any part in 
which the whole population is Affghan, the mixture being composed of Taujiks in the west, and of 
Hindkees in the east. Sir William Jones, and others, have assumed that the Affghans are of Hebrew 
origin ; but though this idea may at first sight appear to be countenanced by some of the Affghan 
traditions, which represent them as lineally descended from ancient Israel, yet abundant proofs might 
be adduced from historical and philological sources in confirmation of the now generally received 
opinion, that this people are the aborigines of the region in or near which they now dwell. Their 
religion is the Mohammedan, but they belong to the sect of Soonnee, who recognise the first three 
caliphs as the lawful successors of Mohammed. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The structure of the Pushtoo or Affghan language refutes the hypothesis of the Hebrew origin of 
the Affghan people. It exhibits none of the peculiarities of the Shemitic dialects, but, on the con- 
trary, forms an important link in the great Indo-European chain of languages. Many of the words 
are Persian, and some of the roots can be traced distinctly from the Zend and Pehlvi dialects, while 



Class III] PUSHTOO. 73 

others again are from some unknown source. Mr. Elpliinstone compared an Anglian vocabulary, 
consisting of 218 words, with the correlative terms in Persian, Zend, Pehlvi, Sanscrit, Hindustani, 
Arabic, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew, and Chaldaic; and he ascertained that in this collection of 
Affghan words, there were no less than 110 which could not be referred to any of the above languages, 
but appear to be distinct and original. Of the remaining words, by far the greater number were 
modern Persian, but some of these could be traced to the Zend, and many more to the Pehlvi; other 
words were proved to belong exclusively to these latter languages, not being employed in modern 
Persian. The instances in which a similarity was traced between the Affghan and the Sanscrit and 
Hindustani words, are to be accounted for by the connection which, as we have elsewhere noticed, 
originally subsisted between the Zend and Sanscrit languages. Most of the terms relative to science, 
government, and religion, have been engrafted on the Pushtoo language from the Arabic, through 
the Persian. In its grammatical forms, Pushtoo is more closely allied to Zend than to Persian, and in 
its inflections it retains some of the features of that ancient language which are lost in Persian. In its 
conjugation it leans to the Persian; but in the declension of nouns, the influence of Hindustani is at 
once perceptible. Although Pushtoo is said not to be unpleasing to those who are accustomed to the 
rough sounds of some Oriental tongues, it is decidedly harsh and unpolished, and contrasts strongly in 
this respect with the soft and musical language of Persia. The Affghans use the Persian alphabet, but 
they have altered the sound of several of the letters, which changes they indicate by means of diacritical 
marks appended to the letters which in Persian approach the nearest in sound to their own peculiar 
enunciation: these distinctive sounds are the hard d, t, r, and csh. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE HOLT SCRIPTURES. 

The first attempt to produce a Pushtoo version of Scripture seems to have been made by Dr. 
Leyden, who in 1811 furnished the Corresponding Committee of Calcutta with a translation of the 
Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark. At his death the translation was continued by the Serampore 
Missionaries, with the aid of some learned natives previously in the employ of Dr. Leyden. An edition 
of the New Testament, consisting of 1000 copies, was printed at Serampore in 1819. The missionaries 
then proceeded with the translation of the Old Testament into Pushtoo; and in 1832 an edition, con- 
sisting of 1000 copies of the Pentateuch and the historical books of the Old Testament, was committed 
to the press. Although no general distribution of any portion of Scripture among the Affghans has yet 
been accomplished, the fierce and warlike character of the people having hitherto formed a bar to mis- 
sionary labours among them, yet the editions of the Pushtoo Scriptures here referred to have since 
been nearly, if not quite, exhausted. This circumstance, however (writes the Secretary to the North 
India Bible Society, from Agra), is perhaps the less to be regretted from the fact that by far the 
greater part of the reading population of Affghanistan read Persian, and prefer that to their native 
dialect. The versions in the latter tongue are likely to be much more extensively in demand should 
the warlike and disturbed population of this country hereafter become more open to missionary exer- 
tions. From the most recent sources of information, there appears, however, to be urgent need for a 
new translation of the Scriptures into Pushtoo, with a view to meet demands that have been made for 
copies on the part of those to whom that language is vernacular. Efforts to supply this want are now 
in progress. Previous to the Indian mutiny of 1857, the Gospel of St. Luke, translated by Captain 
James, and the Gospel of St. John, by the Rev. Mr. Clark, had been placed in the hands of the North 
India Auxiliary Bible Society. But both were destroyed, with the press, at Agra, in that disastrous 
year. Copies are now, however, again ready for the printer, and only await the necessary types. 
The Gospel of St. Matthew has also been rendered into Pushtoo by M. Lowenthal, who is now engaged 
upon the remaining Gospel — that of St. Mark. 



74 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 



BELOOCHEE. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Beloochistan, the country of the Beloochees, lies between Afghanistan and the Indian Ocean, and 
extends along the shores of that ocean from the Indus to Persia. But it is only the western portion of 
this country that is inhabited exclusively by the Beloochees, the eastern provinces being chiefly peopled 
by the Brahooees, a people who speak a dialect of Sanscrit origin, resembling that of the Punjab. In 
religion the Beloochees are Mohammedans, of the sect of Omar, or Soonnites. In number they are 
conjectured to amount to about a million, but Mr. Elphinstone considers this too low an estimate; and 
it is supposed that the entire population of Beloochistan, including the Juts, Taujiks, Dehwars, and 
other tribes who dwell among the Beloochees, would together amount to nearly two millions. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The structure and idioms of the Beloochee language, and above half of its words, are Persian; and 
notwithstanding the corrupt and unaccountable pronunciation of the Beloochees, Lieutenant Pottinger 
was at length enabled, by his knowledge of Persian, to understand every sentence in Beloochee. The 
language possesses no literature, and, if we except a translation of part of the Scriptures, it may be said 
to be unwritten. 

III. VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 

The history of the Beloochee is in some respects similar to that of the Pushtoo version. Both 
versions were commenced by Dr. Leyden, and at his death transferred to the care of the Serampore 
missionaries, who availed themselves of the aid of the learned natives previously employed by Dr. 
Leyden. As it is stated that these natives were thoroughly acquainted with the Persian and Hindu- 
stani languages, we may infer that they made the translation direct from the Persian Gospels and 
Hindustani Testament (which had been printed at Serampore in 1811), and that their work was 
afterwards compared with, and corrected by, the Greek original. It is not certain whether the trans- 
lation has ever been advanced beyond the book of the Acts of the Apostles, but the first three Gospels 
were printed as early as 1815: the number of copies of which this edition consisted is not specified. 
The character is Persian, with no variation. It does not appear that the Beloochee version has ever 
obtained circulation among the people for whom it was intended. 



Class III.] 



ARMENIAN. 



75 



ARMENIAN. 



SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. 

A.NCIENT ARMENIAN. MODERN ARMENIAN. 



1 MJliAJMrbk #, 

puiuu ♦ u. puiuu t/p uiil. 
iua- ♦ L- iU h- t^p piuhu x 
\jui £-p fiul^qpuiut/ uin- 
iS a- t y^dlruiuju pus 
unituiL. Ltijil. * LL. um_iuuq 
unpiu irnls- lc ntfius np 
put brijhJu t \jnduiL. 
fyhiuhp Ifp t Lu fylruiltpu 
£-p /ntu diupn-buiu* f? 1 - 
injuu p fuusL-iupp uiun. 
inL.uLUL.np L/p f ™- fuuiL.uip 
udui ns trrjlL. \uiunL. x 
\^nLu uijp up utn—iuphiui 

JuTf f LulinL.li lidiu K J ns t ■*. 
\uiuut/u x xjw klfti p 

dJ{iujnL-P-fiL-u qji d^Luj^ 
brunt/ duiuu fnuun/u ♦ aft 
tuUtrliirppu •< ui l. lu w ui u q Lhrli 
unduiL. x IS/ k"P uui 

gajuli , tuji_ qj, d^uijtrujk 
if unfit fnL.ua fit x 



1 au^bUP-M, ku 

p. Ulll p * UL. pus up iuj Dnzfh 
t/p * nt- \iuu) p. lull p iuh- 
krp x l^u^pp pufyfiupt/u 

iuj jinifh t/p x {j^dTlTru 

Ppp uilind Lrniu 



uin—uiun usual 



t 
p.iuu 



*ffc_ 



sJrnuiL. hus np bnuiL, ui/- x 
X\huAtpp lull nil £-p t nL. 
IfkuApp Jiupnunq /nuuu 
l^p x |Ji_ fnuup lull 

futuutuppu i/ig-pp inL.utuL.np 



tp* 



pJLUL-lUpp LUUhlll 



$p ^uiulipni 



WW 



lfuipn.lfp LrrilUL. LUUUML-h-^ 

l%- pippLpduihr t uilinp 

uiunijup in^uiuuL-u x 

{J^upfyui JJiiujbinL. Lr^ 
Iiuil. f np inL-uniJu 'Cuidusp 
ilhiujl^ ♦ np luJUt^Mpp tu^ 
und <yLUL.ui in Lull x 1*^^. 

■PP. £"-"C_ %kp * ^UILUUI 
\LrLusL.) np tnL-uniJu ^iu^ 
duip dliuyt; t 



i. v. 1 to 8. 

ARARAT ARMENIAN. 

xiipjIF-'"-"" ^P P-uiuu * 
Lu puiuu {j t uu7nL.h-n/ i/ouiu 
L/p ♦ "- p-tuuu {^uuinuiuir 
t?p x \jui uhpqp.nL.uIi 

U^uuinL.h-nj i/ouiu L/p x 

\j,ugru fiui unpuiund L/iuil. t 
It. lun-iuuq unpusu puLp n< 

P"£_ l^U? 1 - > P u g_ "P k'Uf 1 - * 

\jnpiuund LLtluTipu t/p t 

It. i^hiuupit uiupn-L^iuuq injuu 

t*P * C**- [™J UU fuuML.iu^. 



M 



inji 



£-p inuitfs 



piutL.iupu tfiJiuquiL. unpuiu X 
\J ph l/luptL. C/MIUL. li« w 

uinuiuiriuupq nuntupLiIiuir np 
unpiu iuunu.uu lo^tuultt/u 

\t/p)x Xjw JjiujjnuP-k-iuu 

■ytuJTup LrL^iuL. f np enuunj 
ytui/iLsp JLuji&/ * np iuu£-u^ 
JZ% unpuiund "y ui l. lu in u/L X 

1 'b U£ i!*P UP"* 4 * P-'HJS "P 

tnuunili "yuii/uip d Luiiq? x 



I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Armenia, so called either from "Aram," son of Harma or Haie, or from 'Ar-meni, as Bryant thinks, 
" the mountain of the Moon" or " Ark," was, according to Herodotus, peopled hy a colony from 
Phrygia. (Moses Chor. ed. Whiston, p. 35.) It is now the region in which the three great powers of 
the East, — the Russian, the Turkish, and the Persian, are brought into direct approximation, and it is 
politically divided between them. Having been the theatre of many contests, its boundaries have 
varied at different epochs; but it may be said generally to extend from the river Kour on the north to 
the mountains of Kurdistan on the south, and from the banks of the upper Euphrates on the west to 
the Caspian Sea on the east. An extensive tract situated to the westward of the Euphrates bore, in 
ancient geography, the name of Armenia Minor, or the Lesser Armenia. The total number of 
the Armenian nation is variously estimated at from 2,000,000, to 3,000,000: in their own country 
however, the Armenians form but one seventh part of the population, while in scattered colonies 
they are to be met with from Venice and Constantinople to Canton, and from St. Petersburg to 



76 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

almost every part of Africa. In Constantinople and its adjacent villages there are computed to be 
200,000 Armenians, and an equal number in the Russian and Persian provinces. They are emphati- 
cally the merchants of the East, and a large proportion of the trade, foreign and internal, of Turkey, 
Southern Russia, Persia, India, and of other countries, is carried on by them. The Armenians 
constitute a section of the ancient Monophysite Church, and believe that " the two natures (Divine 
and Human) of Christ are united in one nature;" they have four Patriarchs, the principal of 
whom bears the title of Catholicos of all the Armenians, and resides in Armenia; their ecclesiastical 
establishment in Hindoostan vies with that of the English. About one hundred thousand Armenians 
have joined the Romish Church, and are ruled by their own archbishops. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The ancient Armenian language, though no longer vernacular, is very generally studied by 
Armenian Christians as their national language of religion and literature. The roots of the Armenian 
are closely connected with those of the Persian dialects, and many Median words preserved by Herodotus 
can be explained by means of the Armenian. Its elemental words, such as numerals, pronouns, particles, 
nouns indicative of objects of sense, and verbs indicative of the common actions of life, have their 
analogues in the Greek, Latin, and German languages, and even in the Finnish dialects of Siberia, and 
in other idioms of Northern Asia. Several striking coincidences in structure have likewise been traced 
between the Armenian and the other branches of the Indo-European class; the future tense of Arme- 
nian verbs is, for instance, formed by means of the syllables tzitz, — stzyes, — size, where the character- 
istic sound of the Greek and Sanscrit future is distinctly recognised. On the other hand, some Arme- 
nian participles in al resemble the participles of the Sclavonic languages; and Schlegel has pointed out 
other analogies in inflection between this family and the Armenian. In point of sound, the Armenian 
is extremely harsh, and overloaded with consonants. Its grammatical forms are complicated ; it has 
ten declensions of nouns singular and plural, and a corresponding copiousness of inflection in the 
conjugation of verbs, although in certain tenses the aid of an auxiliary is required. In its system of 
grammatical inflections, this language presents several phenomena almost peculiar to itself, and which 
are thought by Professor Neumann to be attributable in some instances to the remarkable nature of 
its alphabet; the k, for instance, the Professor remarks, which is habitually used in Armenian as a 
termination of the plural in substantives and numerals, is probably a transition of the s of cognate 
languages into k, an occurrence exactly the reverse of the change often observable in the Sclavonic 
languages of k into s. A further peculiarity in the Armenian idiom which distinguishes it from all 
other Indo-European languages is, that it takes no cognizance whatever of gender; that is to say, the 
gender of the noun has no influence whatever upon the form of the adjective by which it is qualified, 
and the grammatical distinction of gender even in the pronouns is unknown in Armenian. But it is a 
simple, grave, energetic, and in the reading the New Testament especially, a beautiful language. In 
the opinion of Armenians, it is the language spoken by Noah in the Ark. 

III. — ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. 
Prior to the fifth century, the Armenians seem to have had no alphabet of their own, but to have 
used the Persian, Greek, or Syriac characters in writing their language. About the beginning of that 
century, Miesrub, a learned Armenian, invented a set of characters adapted to the language of his nation. 
Tradition relates that the forms of these characters were revealed to him from heaven in a vision. This 
style of writing was adopted in Armenia by a royal edict in A.D. 406, and has ever since continued in 
use among the Armenians. Its elements consist of many signs belonging to the alphabets previously 
used in writing Armenian, combined with other signs of more recent invention. This alphabet had 
originally only thirty-six characters, but f and o being subsequently added, increased the number to 
thirty-eight, of which thirty are consonants, and eight are vowels. Armenian, like the languages of 
Europe, is written from left to right. 



Class III.] ARMENIAN. 77 

IV. — VERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 

The ancient Armenian language possesses the treasure of an old and faithful version of Scripture, 
which, on account of its exactness and its eloquent simplicity, has been called by La Croze the " Queen 
of Versions." Our information concerning the early history of this invaluable translation is derived 
from two sources, an Armenian Biography of the Saints, including the life of Miesrob, preserved in 
the Royal Library of Paris, and the history of Armenia by Moses Choronensis, printed with a Latin 
translation at Cambridge in 1736. From the combined testimony of these two sources, it would appear 
that the origin of the Armenian version is nearly contemporaneous with the invention of the Armenian 
alphabet. Miesrob (who was, as above stated, the inventor of this alphabet), after communicating his 
discovery to the king Uram Scavu, and to Isaac the patriarch of Armenia, travelled throughout the 
country in order to establish schools for disseminating instruction in reading and writing, and on his 
return he found the patriarch engaged in the application of the newly invented characters to a transla- 
tion of the Scriptures from the Syriac into Armenian. By the joint efforts of Miesrob and Isaac, a 
version of the entire Scriptures was effected, but it was executed exclusively from the Syriac, because no 
Greek MSS. were then attainable in Armenia; Meruzan, a Persian general, had caused all Greek books 
to be burnt, and the Persians had prohibited the use of any language for religious purposes among the 
Armenians except the Syriac. At the meeting of the Council of Ephesus in 431, Miesrob and Isaac 
sent two of their pupils to that assembly, to recount the progress that had been made in the translation 
of the Scriptures. The members of the Council sent back the youths with a complete copy of the 
Septuagint Bible and the Greek New Testament, for the use of the translators. On receiving this 
welcome gift, Isaac and Miesrob, who had already produced two different translations from the Syriac, 
now addressed themselves for the third time to the formation of an Armenian version. They found 
themselves, however, impeded by their imperfect acquaintance with the Greek language, and accordingly 
sent some of their disciples to Alexandria, which was then the school of Greek learning and literature, 
to study the language. On the return of these young men, one of whom was Moses Choronensis the 
historian, the work of translation was recommenced from the Greek; and when the version was com- 
pleted, if we may take the word of Bar Hebrseus, Miesrob and Isaac modified it according to the Syriac : 
on this subject, however, there are differences of opinion. That it often agrees remarkably with the 
Syriac is certain ; it appears as if the previous labours of the translators had some effect on the existing 
version. A recension of this version is said by some authors to have been made by Haitho, who 
reigned in Lesser Armenia from A.D. 1224 to 1270; he belonged to the Eoman Catholic Church, and 
is charged with having introduced corrupt readings from the Latin Vulgate. But this statement is 
now very generally regarded as incorrect. 

V. — PRINTED EDITIONS OF THE ANCIENT ARMENIAN SCRIPTURES. 

In the seventeenth century MS. copies of the Armenian Scriptures had become so scarce and so 
expensive, that a council of Armenian bishops assembled in 1662 to consult on the best means of calling 
in the aid of printing, of which art they had heard in Europe; and indeed it would appear, that as 
early as 1565 an Armenian Psalter had been printed at Rome. The Armenian bishops, it is supposed, 
applied in the first place to France for assistance in their design of procuring a printed edition of their 
Scriptures, but meeting with a refusal from that quarter, Uscan, bishop of Erivan, proceeded to 
Amsterdam, where in 1666 he published an edition of the entire Armenian Scriptures, followed in 
1668 by a separate edition of the New Testament, which was reprinted in 1698. In these editions the 
bishop is accused, and apparently with justice, of having permitted alterations to be made from the 
Vulgate: the editions published at Constantinople in 1705, and at Venice in 1733, are in consequence 
more highly esteemed than those of Uscan. In 1775 a new and corrected edition of the Armenian 
Scriptures, to be accompanied with a Latin translation, was commenced at Paris by a body of learned 
men, one of whom was the Abbe Villefroy, who had resided many years among the Armenians; but 
of this edition the book of the prophet Habakkuk alone appears to have been published. In 1789 



78 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

the New Testament was printed at Venice, under the editorship of Zohrab, a learned Armenian divine, 
from MS. authorities ; and this edition, which was much esteemed for its correctness, was reprinted in 
1816. A critical edition of the Old and New Testament was published under the care of the same 
editor at Venice in 1805, at the expense of the monks of the Armenian convent of the Island of St. 
Lazarus, in the lagunes of Venice. This edition was printed from a MS. written in Cilicia in the four- 
teenth century, and with the aid of eight MSS. of the Old Testament, and twenty -five of the New. 
The various readings elucidated by Armenian scholia were placed in the margin, and the contested 
passage in 1 John 5. 7, was expunged, because unsupported by the authority of ancient Armenian MSS. 
In 1814 a representation was made to the Calcutta Bible Committee, by Johannes Sarkies, on the 
necessity of supplying the numerous families of Armenians in Calcutta and other parts of Hindoo- 
stan with copies of the Scriptures, and in 1817 an edition was printed for the Society at Serampore, 
consisting of the entire Scriptures. During the same year 5000 copies of the New Testament, and a 
separate edition of the Bible, were printed by the St. Petersburg Bible Society for the use of the 
Armenians, who, to the number of 50,000, were settled in the south of Russia; every sheet of this 
edition was examined by Johannes, the Armenian archbishop at Astrakhan. A previous edition of the 
Scriptures had been published by the same Society in 1814. In 1818 the British and Foreign Bible 
Society purchased 1500 copies of the New Testament of the monks of St. Lazarus for distribution 
chiefly in Armenia, and in the following year they purchased 1000 Bibles. Further purchases were 
made by the Society at Venice until 1823, when they ordered an edition of 5000 copies of the New 
Testament, and 3000 copies of the Gospels alone, to be printed at Constantinople. This edition was 
carried through the press by the Rev. Henry Leeves, with the concurrence of the Armenian patriarch. 
The copies were sent to Tokat in Asia Minor, to Julfa near Ispahan, and into Armenia, for distribution. 
About the year 1838 another edition of the ancient Armenian New Testament was printed at Smyrna, 
at the expense of the American Bible Society. More recently, it has been determined by the Com- 
mittee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, to print a further edition of the New Testament in 
ancient Armenian, in addition to one also in the modern language. Both works are in process of 
execution in London. Editions of the ancient Armenian, printed in parallel columns with the 
modern Armenian versions, will be mentioned hereafter. The Old Testament in ancient Armenian, 
having been executed not from the Hebrew text, but from the Greek version of the LXX., has never 
been printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. 

VI. — -RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

Although the ancient Armenian Scriptures are now only intelligible to those who have had the 
benefits of education and 'opportunities for the study of this ancient tongue, yet as this class of persons 
is rapidly increasing, there is a prospect that this version will soon become' more generally understood, 
and more highly appreciated, than heretofore. Dr. Dwight bears a fitting testimony to its value in a 
letter addressed in 1836 to the Board of the American Bible Society. " It is astonishing," he says, 
" to see the power of Scripture truth on the conscience when it comes to men from the pure fountain 
itself, without note or comment, and without the aid of a living teacher. I could point to two young 
men of the Armenian nation, of whom we have the hope that they have become true disciples of Christ, 
whose minds were first opened by the simple reading of Scripture, before they even knew there was 
a missionary in the whole woi'ld." And equally gratifying is the statement of the American mission- 
aries in 1847, when, after giving an account of the recent remarkable awakening among the Armenian 
people, they ascribe the change, in part at least, to the influence of the ancient version. " Some facts," 
they write, " have come to our knowledge, showing that the ancient Armenian Scriptures, printed 
many years since at Venice, and perhaps at other places by your Society during the first years of its 
operations, have had no small share, by the blessing of God, in awakening the Armenian mind every- 
where, and in preparing the people to receive and maintain the doctrine of the sufficiency of the 
Scriptures as the rule of faith and practice. This is the testimony of Armenians themselves." 



Class III.] ARMENIAN. 79 

ARMENIAN. 

ARARAT DIALECT.* 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Ararat- Armenian is the idiom now spoken in the whole of Armenia except the pashalik of Erze- 
room, and derives its name from the venerable mountain which occupies the centre of the country, 
forming, as it were, the nucleus of the adjacent tableland. In the Hebrew Scriptures the whole 
kingdom of Armenia is called Ararat: the word is however rendered Armenia in our version, in 
2 Kings 19. 37, and Isaiah 37. 38, while the original name (Ararat) is retained in Jeremiah 51. 27. 
The dialect of Ararat is spoken not only in Armenia, but in the Georgian provinces, and by the thou- 
sands of Armenians who are dispersed between the Black Sea and the sources of the Euphrates, and 
thence through Persia and part of Mesopotamia, down as far as the Persian Gulf. This dialect 
approaches much nearer the purity of the ancient Armenian tongue than the dialect of Constantinople, 
but it is adulterated with Persian words. 

II. — VERSIONS OP SCRIPTURE IN THIS DIALECT. 

No books appear to have been printed in this dialect prior to the efforts made by the German 
missionaries at Shushi to supply the Armenians with the Scriptures in an intelligible form. In 1829 
the Rev. Mr. Dittrich was authorised by the British and Foreign Bible Society to prepare a version of 
the Gospel of St. Matthew in this dialect. He was aided by some learned Armenian priests, and succeeded 
so well with the undertaking, that, in accordance with the advice of Dr. Pinkerton, their agent in 
Russia, the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society requested him to proceed with the 
translation of the whole Testament. An edition of 1000 copies of this version was ordered to be 
printed 'at Shushi, but owing to some difficulties which arose in carrying the work through the press, 
the printing was transferred to Moscow. In 1835 the proposed edition was completed, and the copies 
forwarded to Shushi for distribution. A second edition, to consist of 3000 copies, was soon found 
necessary, and was ordered by the British and Foreign Bible Society. In the meantime the mission- 
aries had been proceeding (with the encouragement of the Basle Missionary Society) in the translation 
of the Psalter from the Hebrew; but this work was not published till the year 1844, when it was 
printed in parallel columns with the ancient Armenian. This edition was so much sought after and 
valued by the Armenians, that the Rev. Messrs. Dwight and Homes, American missionaries, applied 
to the British and Foreign Bible Committee for authority to print an edition of the New Testament 
with the Ararat and ancient Armenian in parallel columns, it being intended to execute the work at 
Constantinople. More recently, Mr. Barker, the British and Foreign Bible Society's agent, has 
been authorised to take measures for printing, at Constantinople, 1500 Ararat-Armenian New Testa- 
ments, and 1500 ditto with the ancient Armenian in parallel columns. This work is now in 
progress. 

III. — RESULTS OP THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 
For an account of the remarkable manner in which the Scriptures in both dialects of modern 
Armenian have been used as the means of producing the late revival of religion among the Armenians, 
the reader is referred to pages 78, 81. 

* For Specimen of the Ararat Dialect, see page 75. 



80 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

ARMENIAN. 

MODERN DIALECT, OR DIALECT OF CONSTANTINOPLE.* 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The present vernacular of the Armenians is distinguished from their ancient language by numerous 
local peculiarities and corruptions, varying more or less in every country in which the members of this 
scattered race are congregated. These local varieties are, however, all resolvable into one or other of 
the two predominant dialects of the modern Armenian language, called, from the regions in which 
they are respectively spoken, the dialect of Constantinople and the dialect of Ararat. The former has 
Constantinople for its centre, and is spoken in the neighbouring territories, through Asia Minor and in 
the pashalik of Erzeroom. Its distinctive features consist in the frequent adoption of Turkish words, 
in certain prefixes to verbs, and in general conformity to the rules of Turkish syntax. The words 
of the ancient language are retained in both dialects of modern Armenian in almost an unaltered form, 
so far at least as respects orthography; but the signification now given to these words is so different 
from their original meaning, that an uneducated Armenian of the present day is unable to comprehend 
even the general purport of a work written in the ancient Armenian language. Many changes also 
have been introduced in grammar and in the most common forms of expression, and the dialect of 
Constantinople is especially remarkable for its rejection of the concise, energetic style of the ancient 
Armenian, and its constant use of long, monotonous periods, all constructed upon one and the same 
model, according to the Turkish mode of writing. It is much softer than the Ararat dialect. 

II. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. 

The first attempt on record to produce a version of Scripture in modern Armenian was made by 
the British and Foreign Bible Society. The subject was brought before the Committee by Professor 
Kieffer, who mentioned that Dr. Zohrab, an Armenian from Constantinople, the learned editor of the 
ancient Armenian Scriptures, was at Paris, and well qualified to undertake the translation. During 
the same year (1821), Dr. Pinkerton passed through Paris on his way to St. Petersburg, and obtained 
from Dr. Zohrab, as a specimen, a translation of the Sermon on the Mount. This specimen was printed 
at St. Petersburg, and sent for inspection to various parts of Turkey. Several Armenians who examined 
it approved of it highly, but the priests, who were probably prejudiced against a modern version of the 
Scriptures, found fault with the style, which they said was low, vulgar, and degrading to the subject, 
as compared with the ancient Armenian. Dr. Zohrab, however, continued to prosecute his labours at 
Paris; he translated from the ancient Armenian version, and in 1824 completed a version of the New 
Testament in the modern Armenian dialect of Constantinople. It was revised by M. St. Martin, an 
Armenian scholar, and an edition of 1000 copies, printed in parallel columns with the ancient Armenian, 
was published at Paris in 1825, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. It was after- 
wards objected to this version that, having been made directly from the ancient Armenian, it was not 
perfectly conformable to the Greek, and that, owing probably to Dr. Zohrab's prolonged absence from 
his native city, the style was not exactly in accordance with the idiomatic peculiarities of the modern 
tongue. In 1837 a fount of Armenian type was forwarded to the American missionaries at Smyrna, 
and a revised edition of this version of the New Testament was commenced at the expense of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society. This edition, revised by Mr. Adger, was carried carefully and 
slowly through the press, and it was not till 1842 that an impression of 5000 copies of the New Testa- 
ment was issued. These copies were in great demand, and were put into circulation as soon as they 
left the binder's hands. Mr. Adger then proposed to publish an edition of this New Testament in 
parallel columns with the ancient version, in order that the suspicions of the Armenians might be 

* For Specimen of the Modern Armenian Version, see page 75. 



Class III.] ARMENIAN. 81 

removed as to the possibility of the Scriptures having been adulterated in the modern translation : the 
Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society have resolved to carry this proposal into execution, 
and an edition of 1500 Testaments, arranged on this plan, is stated, in the Society's report for 1 856, to be 
in progress. In the meantime, by the aid of the American Bible Society, the missionaries in Smyrna 
proceeded with the translation of the Old Testament into modern Armenian. In 1844 they were 
deprived by death of one of their assistants in this work, a pious Armenian, who had laboured with 
them during five years, and who was employed in the translation of the Turkish Old Testament of 
Mr. Goodell into modern Armenian. The work has, however, been subsequently completed. In 1857, 
an edition of 3000 Bibles in modern Armenian, with 2000 New Testaments in the same, issued from 
the press of the American Mission at Constantinople, on account of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society. A further edition of 2000 Testaments in modern Armenian was in 1858 completed at the 
same press; in addition to which, the Society are also printing an edition of 5000 New Testaments in 
London. The American Bible Society (as appears from their latest report) have recently, under the 
superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Biggs, completed an edition of the Modern Armenian Bible, and the 
plates of another and larger edition, with references, are already in progress. 

III. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

The versions of Scripture in both the dialects of modern Armenian have received the manifest 
blessing of God, in a degree almost unprecedented in the history of other versions. The following 
are some of the accounts given by missionaries on the spot, concerning the remarkable effects wrought 
among the Armenians by the circulation of the modern version. " We might mention," they say, 
(writing in 1845,) " twenty towns in Turkey where Armenians are found who daily search the Scrip- 
tures for the purpose of guiding their lives according to its supreme teachings." In some of these places, 
this holy volume, owing to the fact of its being in modern language, is received as a fresh message from 
heaven; and in these towns especial assemblies are held on the Sabbath for studying the Scriptures; 
and this occurs also in towns where no foreign missionary has ever been. The reading of the Scriptures 
in an intelligible language has-been the means, by God's blessing, of curing many of their scepticism. 
They have become convinced that whatever occasion they had had to doubt about the truth of Christianity, 
from what they were seeing around them, yet that here, in this book, they could see that there is a 
pure living Christianity. One individual, a banker among the Armenians, said, " Our nation owes, to 
those who have been the means of making us acquainted with the word of God in an intelligible lan- 
guage, a great debt of gratitude. They have saved not only me, but many others, from infidelity; for 
we have found that Christianity has deeper foundations than what we had supposed; and that there is 
in the word of God something upon which to anchor our faith." The numerous cases of conversion 
to God which followed the diligent perusal of the Holy Scriptures in the modern tongue, did not 
escape the notice of the worldly and unbelieving clergy at the head of the Armenian Church, and a 
cruel series of persecutions was commenced against the " Bible," " Evangelical," or " Protestant" 
Armenians, as all were styled who read and obeyed the word of God. Many of these Protestants (by 
this name they are now commonly designated) were solemnly excommunicated by the Armenian 
patriarch, but to no purpose, as many more were daily added to their numbers. In a village near the 
town of Nicomedia, a congregation of Protestant Armenians had sprung up, having the Scriptures for 
their rule of faith; no missionary had ever been among them excepting the missionary of missionaries, 
the Bible: like their brethren elsewhere, they were called to endure persecution, and were at last 
driven to the necessity of meeting for worship in the fields. On one of these occasions they were 
attacked with stones, but instead of resorting to violent means of defence against their enemies, they 
calmly took up the stones and deposited them at the governor's feet, demanding his protection, which 
was accorded. After enduring many similar outrages in the same Christian spirit, the Protestant 
Armenians resolved to free themselves from the tyranny of their church, by forming themselves into a 
separate church, founded on Scriptural principles. To effect this separation they were compelled to 

7 



82 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

appeal to the Turkish Government. Their application met with success, and their freedom from the 
oppressive jurisdiction of their patriarch is now fully recognised. " An officer of the government, a 
Turk (it is stated by Mr. Barker in 1847), is appointed to look after all their civil relations, and they 
are to choose their own representative to confer with him. Their ecclesiastical affairs are entirely free, 
and all patriarchs and other ecclesiastics are forbidden to interfere in any way with them ; and all officers 
of government are called upon to see that their rights are respected. Truly the king's heart is in the 
hand of the Lord, and He turneth it whithersoever He will." 

Subsequent accounts received from the same field of labour continue to confirm, in the most grati- 
fying manner, the intelligence above instanced in reference to the results of Protestant missionary 
labour amongst the Armenian population of the Turkish empire. The converts are now uniformly 
recognised by the term Protestants, and in 1850 a firman was issued by his Imperial Majesty the Sultan, 
confirming and enlarging the protection given to all his Protestant subjects throughout the empire, 
and securing to them the full and free exercise of their religion. " There are at present in Asia (writes 
the Rev. J. Lowndes, in 1851), Armenian Protestant churches established at twenty-one different 
places. These are superintended by sixteen American missionaries, six ordained native pastors, and 
one licensed preacher. . . . There are also many other places where native Christians are scattered. 
At Aintab, the greatest work appears to have been effected, for there the congregation is estimated at 
about 600." 

The account given by Mr. Barker, on the occasion of his visit to England in 1852, of the origin 
of this movement, is deeply interesting. "In 1821, the Society's Armenian New Testament was placed 
by me in the hands of Armenian door-keepers, cooks, scullions, and grooms, who, strange to say, knew 
how to read. They were natives of the villages of the district called Arabkir, who, returning home at 
intervals, carried with them to their country the Gospel of truth, in which they took great delight. 
I sent the Armenian Scriptures to Aintab, where now the largest congregation of Protestant Armenians 
exists ; and at Smyrna, where I subsequently went, I sold entire boxes of Armenian and Turco- Armenian 
New Testaments and Psalms, which were carried to those very places where the Gospel truth has, and is 
fast taking such a strong hold on the hearts of men. This good seed was lost sight of for many years, 
but with the blessing of God it took root, and is now bearing seed an hundred fold." 



KURDISH. 

SPECIMEN OF ARMENO-KURDISH, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. vi. v. 10 to 15. 

Q»«# M|«#i_4- Jlf ^ft sp usafti_Jus1suiusj t Isustllj- rpus usafta ufpufp * ip us in ft <us ^ ft [3- pjc? 
rj-us u£g- • ifg-puiug- rpus ufpufp , tiuJuth oft in uiapu-Juslsutui t-nuuuslsJ-p ip_ u krp uspuilf t 
[jusTtfc- Jus ^J^-t/nu n—ojwiu ppo J-p Jiujt—iu us put p t j|i_ wl^jut? Jus J-p Jusn^us u^uspsy^ 

ufp j>p pusdurts ^pft £"«/* J-p U£Uipi^ uipopjs <f~p ut£ri1sviuspusls£- psopus t \\i~ug- sp 

p^-irp^ r "- u lh' jh "k~ "l^rf iff <*~p_>Jz' r *-li' psussusu tup j?p f tpjtugp t^rpusj 4" tpustsifi^usypP'p nu 
cpni-dlffd- rtL. <yiuif?n lfu^lfuipj_ l^us^-ut * usjjtls t ^^pJus^pfi £rp£p *ynu.u us J ip U£p^pp1s 

tf-ususui^usfJ-lf Jgrn^ni^iluslt J-p L-usun-us M)u/i_£- n J-ft jj/t / p usaftt-diuutnusj £- J-p nn_us 
usiJq) uit? "IP_~PI]_ * £_£~ h'PJtk' ^nuls q-usujus^uspT-fc- iP^rn-nuuih usJlp Isus ^pp d~C_ 

uuslsn—us t "\usL-Jzr n J-p _pp cp tu u p t_ Jiuls m tu e £■ q.ususus'yusfJ-lj? n J-p nn_ui usJtp Tsusj^p t 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Kurdistan, the land of the Kurds, or Koords, is a mountainous region south-east of Armenia, 
extending about 300 miles in length by 150 in breadth, and forming a kind of descent' from the high 



Class III.] KURDISH. 83 

table land of Persia to the low alluvial plains of Mesopotamia. It is thought by Eennell and others 
to be the country mentioned under the name of Kir in 2 Kings 16. 9, Isaiah 22. 6, and in Amos 1. 5 
and 9. 7. The Kurds are the descendants of the Carduchi, who are said by Xenophon to have given 
him so much trouble during his retreat with the ten thousand Greeks through the mountain passes 
of Kurdistan. The Carduchi derived their name probably from the chain of mountains called in the 
Targum of Onkelos " the mountains of Qardu," on which the Ark rested. That chain rises to the 
north-east of the plain of Sinjar (Shinar?), and commands an extensive view of the land of Assyria. 
The tradition of the ark having rested on the mountain now called Ararat, which is almost inaccessible 
to the summit, and several days' journey from the plains of Assyria, is entirely of Armenian origin. 
Whereas the " mountains of Qardu," are accessible, and have been visited by Jews in all ages as a place 
of pilgrimage ; and for that reason they have received from the Turks the name of Tchudi-Dagh, or 
"Jews' mountain." The Kurds afterwards became again conspicuous in history under the name of 
Parthians; and Crassus the Roman general was slain with twenty thousand of his troops in an expe- 
dition against them, B.C. 53. Saladin, the opponent of Richard Coeur de Lion in the Crusades, was a 
Kurd by birth. Notwithstanding all these historical reminiscences, the Kurds are comparatively little 
known in Europe. From the time of Xenophon they have retained their wild and warlike habits ; and 
though the northern part of their country, as far as lat. 35°, is nominally subject to Turkey, and the 
southern portion to Persia, yet they virtually maintain their independence to this day. They are 
divided into numerous tribes, supposed to number altogether about 800,000 individuals. Some of these 
tribes have settled in the provinces of Luristan in Persia, and other hordes have wandered westward, 
as far as the pashaliks of Aleppo and Damascus. The Kurds are also in possession of a portion of the 
mountainous region of Khorassan in Persia, whither, according to Morier, 4000 Kurdish families were 
transplanted by Shah Ismael, for the protection of Persia against the incursions of the neighbouring 
Turkomans. The Yezidees, a singular religious sect, who are commonly supposed to worship the 
Devil, are Kurds, and speak a dialect of the Kurdish language : they inhabit different parts of Kurdistan, 
the hills of Sinjar near the river Khabour, and the plains round Nisibin and Oorfah to the west of Mosul; 
and they are also found in Arabia among the native tribes. With the exception of this remarkable 
people, the Kurds in general profess Mohammedanism ; but considerable numbers of them are Nestorian 
and Chaldasan Christians. 

k 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Kurdish is in all probability a remnant of the old Farsi or Parsi language, and notwithstanding 
the harshness of its sounds, it bears much resemblance to modern Persian. The Rev. H. Southgate 
relates that this similarity is so great, that he could often understand something of the conversation of 
the Kurds by the great number of Persian words he heard in it. Like most dialects used merely for 
oral communication through a large extent of territory, the language of the Kurds, having no literature 
or written standard of appeal, undergoes very considerable alterations and modifications in different 
places by intermixture with the languages of neighbouring nations. Thus the Kurds who dwell in 
the Ottoman empire have adopted many Turkish words, while corrupted Syriac words have crept into 
the dialects of the tribes who live in the vicinity, or have embraced the religion, of the Nestorian 
Christians. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

A proposal to obtain a version of Scripture in Kurdish for the benefit of this ignorant and semi- 
barbarous people, was brought before the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1822, 
by the Rev. Henry Leeves. He experienced some difficulty in meeting with a person competent to 
undertake the translation, but at length the preparation of the version was entrusted to Bishop Schevris 
at Tabreez. The bishop accomplished a portion of this translation in the midst of discouragement and 
even of personal risk; and in 1827, Mr. Leeves announced to the Committee that he had received 



84 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

from Tabreez the Four Gospels and the Apocalypse in Kurdish, written in Arabic characters. This 
MS. was subsequently forwarded by Mr. Leeves to the Committee. In 1829, the missionaries at 
Shushi offered their services in correcting, revising, printing, and distributing the portion of Scripture 
which had been translated into Kurdish at the expense of the Bible Society; and in 1832, the Com- 
mittee in consequence forwarded the Four Gospels to Shushi, and authorised the engagement of a 
competent Kurdish teacher as an assistant in the work of revisal. In order to ascertain the critical 
value of this version of the Gospels, the Shushi missionaries prosecuted the most laborious enquiries at 
Tabreez; and in furtherance of the same object, the Eev. Messrs. Hornle and Schneider undertook a 
journey into Kurdistan. The result of these investigations has been to prove that the version is not 
intelligible to the Kurds. The dialect in which the version is written is called the Hakkari, and is 
spoken in a district of the same name near the Turkish government of Wan ; l but the Kurdish language 
branches out into so many dialects, that it is by no means easy to decide which of the almost endless 
variety would be most likely to prove an intelligible medium in communicating the divine truths of 
Christianity to the whole Kurdish nation. 

The difficulty above referred to has happily been since overcome by the preparation of a version 
of the Gospels in Arm eno- Kurdish, the language familiar to the Kurdish population of Turkish 
Armenia. In 1856, the British and Foreign Bible Society printed in Armeno- Kurdish the Gospel of 
St. Matthew; and an edition of 3000 copies of the Four Gospels in Armeno-Kurdish has since issued 
(on behalf of the same Society) from the American Mission press at Constantinople. 

The Armeno-Kurdish version of the Gospel of St. Matthew was the first portion of Holy Scrip- 
ture that had ever been made really intelligible to the Kurdish nation, and it is in the highest degree 
interesting to note the sensations which its appearance awakened. The following is from the pen of 
a missionary's wife, who was an eye-witness of the scene: — " Saturday, I was alone in the sitting-room 
of our kiosk, .... when I heard the voice of Deacon Shemmas. And soon he entered, looking very 
happy, and exclaiming, ' Thanks be to God — thanks, many thanks — the Kurdish Gospel of Matthew 
has arrived!' at the same time producing from his handkerchief, in which it was carefully wrapped, a 
small neatly-bound volume. ' And now,' continued he, alluding to a contemplated journey and 
absence of several weeks among some distant Kurdish towns, ' I hope I shall go on Monday. All 
I have been waiting for was these books.' .... 

" This new Kurdish Gospel is the first book ever published in the Kurdish language. It has 
been translated by our native preacher Stepan, who lives at Hineh, and we hope he will soon complete 
the translation of the whole New Testament, and that through it many will receive a knowledge of 
Jesus Christ." 



OSSITINIAN. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 
The Ossetes inhabit the central part of Caucasus, north of Georgia. In conjunction with several 
Circassian, Abassian, and other tribes, they occupy the whole of the hill country (called Kabardah and 
Little Abassia or Abazia) between the Upper Kuban and Lesghistan to the summits of the Caucasus. 
They are unquestionably a Median colony : Klaproth supposes them to be the Sarmato-Medians of the 
ancient, and the Alani or Ases of the middle, ages. According to Dr. Henderson, this tribe numbers 
about 16,000 individuals, but this appears to be too low an estimate. A mission was established 

1 For Specimen of that Version, see page 91. 



Class III.] OSSITINIAN. 85 

among them in 1752 by the Eussian priests, with the view of converting them from heathenism, and 
in 1821 upwards of 30,000 Ossetes had joined the Greek Church. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The language of the Ossetes unquestionably belongs to the Indo-European stem. In a vocabulary 
of 800 Ossitinian words, one tenth have been traced to one or other of the Indo-European languages. 
The system of conjugation has some resemblance to that of the Persian and Armenian; the tenses are 
numerous and varied, but auxiliaries are likewise employed. The pronunciation of the Ossitinian 
greatly resembles that of the low German and Sclavonic dialects; the English sound th (Greek 6) 
occurs in it. The language is rendered harsh by the frequent concurrence of guttural letters and 
hissing consonants, such as kkh, dts, dtch, etc. Yet this harshness is modified by the influence of 
certain laws of euphony, which require some of the consonants to be softened when brought in contact 
with others of a different order. In Ossitinian there are six cases; the plural is formed by adding te, 
thi, or ton, to the nominative of the singular. According to Sjogren (Ossetische Sprachl. p. 4) there 
are forty-six or forty-seven letters in the Ossitinian alphabet, which he derives from the Eussian; while 
Dr. G. Eosen (Ossetische Sprachl. p. 3) adopts the Georgian alphabet, and reckons the sounds in the 
Ossitinian language at thirty-four only. This language is very rich in prepositions and postpositions, 
and has four different modes of negation. 

III. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

At the period that so many of the Ossetes were joined to the Greek Church, Mr. Jalgusidse, an 
Ossitinian nobleman, who held an official appointment under the Eussian Government, being anxious 
to provide his countrymen with a version of the Scriptures in their own tongue, proposed to the Com- 
mittee of the Eussian Bible Society to prepare a translation of the Gospels in the Ossitinian dialect. 
Mr. Jalgusidse's services were accepted by the committee, and a correspondence was entered into with 
the Exarch of Georgia, whose co-operation in so important an undertaking was considered desirable. 
The version was commenced without delay by Mr. Jalgusidse, but he confined it to the Gospels, which 
he translated chiefly from Armenian. His production was submitted to the inspection of competent 
persons, and after having been carefully compared with the original under the immediate superinten- 
dence of the Archbishop Jonas, it was presented for examination to the Synod. Its publication was 
strongly recommended by the Synod, and the committee of the Eussian Bible Society resolved, in 
consequence, to print an edition of 2000 copies at Moscow, under the inspection of the Branch Com- 
mittee of that city. The work was ordered to be put to press in 1824, but, from the suspension of the 
Eussian Bible Society, no further intelligence has been received concerning it, and it appears certain 
that, even if the printing was completed, it was never put into circulation. The Ossitinians are there- 
fore, in all probability, still unprovided with a version of any part of Scripture in their own language. 



CLASS ni-INDO-ETJEOPEAN LANGUAGES. 

B. SANSCRIT FAM ILY. 



SANSCRIT. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHJN", Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

3 a riHir*Aift ^k ^ it Tfpfrrfc *r«Fhr i^Tft; i wfw^ jfhnr'jTCrfrr ^ htjj1hh^i«1£i$i*j Jnprrcrri 

si s^ w^isjmlif i wwhmj?ranr ^?RTqra w^ wn^: i ^h^w ^s^r ^c[%«r. wawrtHR^ 
<*3 tt^t >rftnr w«r. Hr<wai ^n% w^n 3 ?t t^t ^ f^rann ^k^r srnr^pn *r?rarei fsiin^ft^rTT- 
1$ prfiTOT » '-hi^t^ m^rjnrTxnr ^nrc rditHW ^i^wi jtt^Ttrj ttct nijiirRJ tptt nnr^eMirfW *rc?^r 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

SANSCRIT, the ancient and classical language of India, is still cultivated by the learned throughout a 
country comprising upwards of 1,250,000 English square miles, equal to about a third part of the 
entire area of Europe. Among the 170,000,000 inhabitants of this extensive region, Mohammedanism 
and various other forms of religion exist; but the predominant creed is Brahminism, which is professed 
by seven-eighths of the people. The ancient Brahminical writings called the Vedas inculcate the 
existence of one Supreme Being; but the government of the universe is said to be delegated to 
333,000,000 subaltern deities, and the mass of the people are practically gross idolaters. Brahminism 
is pre-eminently a religion of forms and ceremonies: fatiguing pilgrimages, rigorous fastings, and 
many cruel observances, amounting even to the wilful sacrifice of life, are frequently exacted from 
its votaries. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The origin of this language is lost in remote antiquity. We possess no authentic records of 
the peopling of India, called in the Vedas " Indu," the beloved land of Indra, nor of the early history 
of its inhabitants. It is, however, generally believed that, many centuries anterior to the Christian era, 



Ciass III.] SANSCRIT. 87 

a people of Japhetic origin settled in India, and brought with them their own language, with which 
the language of the aborigines of the country, or at least of the northern provinces, became gradually 
blended. This language was the Sanscrit, and philological evidences have of late years been adduced 
in abundance to prove its close connection, if not its original identity, with the Zend, the language of 
ancient Bactria, thus pointing pretty clearly to the origin of the early settlers. Sanscrit was a 
refined and polished tongue during many ages when Europe was plunged in barbarism ; and the philo- 
sophy, science, and erudition of the Brahmins, inscribed in their rich and flexible language on the 
fragile leaves of the palm tree, were, from generation to generation, religiously concealed in temples 
from the gaze of the Western world. The successes of the British in India during the last century led 
to the examination of these monuments of ancient lore; and the language in which they were written 
then began to be studied by Europeans. 

From this period a new era commenced in philological science. It was found that many 
hypotheses, which had long engaged the attention and baffled the penetration of philologists, could be 
conducted to a safe and triumphant issue by means of the important link in the chain of causes and 
effects afforded by the Sanscrit language. The same grammatical principles upon which the Sanscrit- 
is based were proved to pervade the Greek, the Latin, the German, the Icelandic, and in fact all the 
languages constituting what has been appropriately designated the Indo-European class; while the 
fifteen hundred radical monosyllables, by means of which all Sanscrit words are constructed, were 
traced, with precisely similar significations, and to the amount of one thousand, among the elements 
of the Indo-European languages; for these numerous languages, as Eichhorn has well remarked, 
exhibit the fragments of a grand edifice, of which the whole is to be seen entire only on the banks of 
the Ganges. The very name of the Sanscrit language (derived from the preposition sam, equivalent 
to the Greek crvv, s euphonic, and krita, passive participle of kri, to make) denotes its completeness; 
and Sir William Jones, in comparing it with the two learned languages of Europe, attested its supe- 
riority over both, for it is, as he said, " more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and 
more exquisitely refined than either." It is, in short, the most perfect and most beautiful language 
in existence. Its nouns, like the Greek, admit of three numbers (singular, dual, and plural), and of 
three genders; the cases resemble those of the Latin and Greek in power, but including the vocative 
they reach the number of eight, the two additional cases that do not occur in the sister languages being the 
Instrumental, which has the sense of by or with, and the Locative, which conveys the meaning of in or 
on. In point of inflection, the Sanscrit cases of nouns present the type of the Greek and Latin declen- 
sions. So in the conjugation of Sanscrit verbs, affinities are everywhere to be traced with the Greek, 
Latin, and Germanic languages, but more especially with the Greek. The resemblance between Greek 
and Sanscrit is particularly striking in the formation of the tenses, and in the use of the augment and 
reduplication. Like the Greek, the Sanscrit possesses three voices, active, middle, and passive ; but as 
in Greek, so in Sanscrit, the distinction between the active and middle forms is often lost sight of, and 
in many verbs can scarcely be said to exist. All traces of this middle voice have disappeared in Latin 
and in all the other languages of this class, except the Zend and the Gothic. Sanscrit verbs have five 
moods — indicative, potential, imperative, precative, and conditional. The indicative has six tenses; 
namely, three preterites (corresponding in form with the Greek imperfect, aorist, and perfect), two 
futures, which, like the two futures of the Greek verb, seem to be used indiscriminately; and one 
present. All the other moods in Zend and Sanscrit possess but one tense. In the Vedas, however, 
the most ancient documents of the Sanscrit language, there are indications that the other moods 
originally possessed more than one tense; and hence Bopp infers, that " what the Indo-European 
languages in their development of the moods have in excess over the Sanscrit and Zend, dates, at 
least in its origin, from the period of the unity of the language." A remarkable analogy has been 
noticed by Burnouf and others between the Sanscrit infinitive and the Latin supine in turn; and a 
great number of instances, in which this similarity is perfect, are adduced by Schlegel in the Indische 
Bibliotheh {e.g. Sans, sthdtum, Lat. statum; Sans, datum, Lat. datum); and the original identity of 



88 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

the two forms is proved by the fact, first remarked by Bopp, that, in the more ancient monuments of 
the Latin language, the supine in turn is used where, according to later use, the infinitive is employed. 
In Sanscrit, as in Greek, Latin, and all the Germanic languages, prepositions are extensively used in 
forming compound verbs. In all those languages the verbs thus compounded sometimes retain simply 
the signification of the original verbal root; in other instances they express the combined sense of the 
two elements of which they are composed; and in other cases they present a meaning differing widely 
from what their composition would have led us to expect. 

Without being so intimately connected with the Sanscrit as the Greek, Latin, and Germanic lan- 
guages, the Lithuanian, Lettish, Old Pruasic, and Sclavonic dialects bear testimony in their words and 
structure of a common origin. One general and invariable characteristic which (with the exception 
of the Celtic family) runs through every language of the Indo-European class is, that in the first and 
second personal pronouns there is no distinction of gender, and that the nominative case singular of the 
first personal pronoun is derived from a root very different to that whence the oblique cases proceed. 
One of the principal links of resemblance, according to Bopp, between the Lithuanian and the Sans- 
crit is the omission of the letter n in both languages, whenever it occurs as the final radical of certain 
words: this he attributes to the influence of the laws of euphony. Klaproth, not content with recog- 
nising the astonishing affinities of the Indo-European languages, has extended his researches over a yet 
wider field of survey, and has formed an extensive vocabulary, in which he exhibits a multitude of 
words which are found in Sanscrit, and which are also preserved in the Finnish, Samojede, and 
Turkish languages; but aware of the difficulty of explaining this phenomenon, he confines himself to 
the mere statement of its existence. 

III. — ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. 

The artificial system upon which the Sanscrit alphabet is arranged is explained, page 8. The 
alphabetical characters usually employed in writing Sanscrit are said to have a divine origin, and are 
called Devanagari, signifying the alphabet of " the city of the gods," from nagara a city, and deva 
(divas) a god. No grammarians have ever equalled or even rivalled the Indian in the study of the 
laws of euphony. The permutations to which Sanscrit letters are subjected in conformity with these 
laws are particularly numerous. These permutations extend even to syntax, and words merely in 
sequence have an influence over each other in the change of final, and sometimes even of initial, letters. 
Compared with the alphabetical sounds of other languages, it has been found that, taking articulation 
for articulation, and value for value, there are ten sounds less in Russian than in Sanscrit, twelve less 
in Greek, fifteen in German, and eighteen less in Latin. 

IV. — SANSCRIT VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES. 
It seems to have been by the special interposition of Providence that the means of effecting a 
translation of the Scriptures into Sanscrit were provided at the precise period when the first attempt 
was made to commence this important work. Only a few years previous to the arrival of the venerable 
Carey in India, Sanscrit was almost inaccessible to Europeans. Sir William Jones, by large pecuniary 
payments which would have been beyond the means of the missionary, secured the services of a pundit 
in elucidating the principles of the language; and the works afterwards prepared by this celebrated 
orientalist, and by others who followed in the same track, removed the apparently insuperable difficulties 
which had placed the Sanscrit language beyond the reach of ordinary students. The care of Provi- 
dence in providing means for printing the Scriptures in the languages of India is also remarkable, for 
no Sanscrit work had ever been committed to the press until a few years prior to the translation of the 
Scriptures into that language, when Dr. Wilkins succeeded in constructing a fount of types in Indian 
characters. A native, formerly in his service, communicated the invention to the missionaries at 
Serampore, and with his aid types were cast for printing the Scriptures in no less than twelve of the 
alphabets used in various parts of India. The Sanscrit New Testament was commenced in 1803, and 



Class III.] SANSCRIT. 89 

finished at press in 1808; the edition consisted of 600 copies. The printing of this edition was com- 
menced in 1806, and in the same year the Eev. David Brown, provost of the College of Fort William, 
sent a specimen of it to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society in London. In his 
accompanying letter he remarked respecting this version, that " the Sanscrit answers to Greek as face 
answers to face in a glass ; the translation will be perfect while it is almost verbal. You will find the 
verb in the corresponding mood and tense, the noun and adjective in the corresponding case and 
gender. The idiom and government are the same: when the Greek is absolute, so is the Sanscrit; 
and in many instances the primitives or roots are the same." Dr. Carey tells us that he translated this 
version immediately from the Greek, and that he afterwards in conjunction with Dr. Marshman, com- 
pared each sentence with the Greek text. All his other translations were in the first place written out 
roughly for him by native pundits, and then submitted to him for correction and revisal, but he 
dictated the Sanscrit himself to an amanuensis. 

Dr. Carey had made some progress in the translation of the Old Testament into Sanscrit, when 
the disastrous fire at Serampore in 1812 interrupted his labours. In this fire a dictionary of the Sans- 
crit and various Indian dialects, laboriously compiled by Dr. Carey, was consumed, and likewise the 
Sanscrit MSS. of the Second Book of Samuel and of the First of Kings. In the year 1815 
Dr. Yates arrived in India, and was associated with Dr. Carey in the work of translating the Scrip- 
tures. The proofs of the Sanscrit Old Testament, then passing through the press, were all examined 
by him, and compared with the Hebrew, and he subsequently in concert with Dr. Carey, subjected 
them to a second revisal. The Old Testament was issued in portions at different periods in the 
following order: — 

A.D. 1811 — 600 copies of the Sanscrit Pentateuch. 

1815 — 1000 copies of the Historical Books in Sanscrit. 
1818 — 1000 copies of the Hagiographa. 
1822 — 1000 copies of the Prophetic Books. 

In 1820, a second edition of the New Testament was undertaken at Serampore, the former edition 
having been completely exhausted. As numerous applications for copies of the Sanscrit Scriptures 
had been made by the literati of India, especially by those in the western provinces, this edition was 
extended to 2000 copies. In 1827 a second edition of the Old Testament, to consist of 2000 copies, 
was in the press, but various circumstances retarded its completion; and in 1834, the date of the 
Tenth Memoir of Serampore Translations, the impression had been struck off only as far as the First 
Book of Kings. 

In determining the value of Dr. Carey's Sanscrit version, it must be remembered that it was 
undertaken at a period when the language had been little studied by Europeans, and when no printed 
copies of the standard works were in existence. Yet, notwithstanding the disadvantages under which 
he laboured, Dr. Carey seldom fails in point of fidelity or correctness. His defects, it has been well 
remarked, are mainly to be attributed to " the principle which appears to have influenced all the 
Serampore versions— -that of translating as closely to the letter of the text as possible; a rigour of 
fidelity that cannot fail to cramp and distort the style of the translator." The inelegance and harsh- 
ness of Dr. Carey's diction rendered his version unpopular with the learned men of India, and the 
desirableness of obtaining a new and more polished translation of the Scriptures soon became apparent. 
In 1835 a statement to this effect was laid before the Committee of the Society for the Promotion of 
Christian Knowledge. The committee entered into communication on the subject with the Bishop of 
Calcutta, and with Dr. Mill, then principal of Bishop's College, and authorised them to take such 
measures as they might deem proper for effecting a new version of the Scriptures into Sanscrit. 
Dr. Mill had previously paved the way for this important undertaking by publishing a Sanscrit 
Glossary of theological terms; yet, with the exception of a truly classical work prepared by that eminent 
scholar, and entitled the Christa-Sangi'ta, or the Sacred History of our Lord Jesus Christ, no attempt 
appears to have been made under the patronage of the Society to carry the proposed version into 



90 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

execution. Two editions of the Sermon on the Mount in Sanscrit verse, which originally appeared as 
the twelfth canto of the second book of the Christa-Sangita, were afterwards published, the one in 
Devanao-ari, and the other in Bengalee letters. Eventually, the translation was undertaken by 
Dr. Yates, formerly the associate of Dr. Carey, and upon whom the mantle of the venerable translator 
seemed to have fallen. Yielding to the entreaties of missionaries in Calcutta and Northern India, and 
to the appeals of the people, he began the work in 1840 by the publication of 2500 copies of the 
Psalms in Sanscrit verse. It is said of this work that each stanza, and sometimes each line, contains 
a complete sense; and that the padas, or half lines, are like so many steps, leading the mind forward, 
and affording resting places, till the whole is comprehended. 

SPECIMEN, FROM DR. CAREY'S VERSION. St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

<i * ^nfi to. *i+TIh * ^ to. f^fasr qrfirrefhr * to; *sm*flm< tht i * ^n^\ %*ihs «*i«br x i 
3 8 hi *tf to *nr^ *tf <* ■HiJ'Hwu f^wfq to fcrmi tto i * ^rfa^irerc: ra srN^t jptoitot 

<\t * TOJ ^H'ui^tkrRirNi Kr*rirRT^Twn itfbrch *R *rri* ^rwTfW^w?r wr. ftnrTfnr'hnr^ti 

In 1843 the Bible Translation Society granted £500 towards the translation of the entire Scrip- 
tures into Sanscrit under the superintendence of Dr. Yates, and a similar sum was contributed for the 
same purpose by the American and Foreign Bible Society. Thus encouraged, Dr. Yates proceeded 
rapidly with the work. In 1844 the Gospels were completed; and in 184f>, 3000 copies of the 
Proverbs had been printed, and an edition of 2500 copies of the New Testament was in the press. In 
this version of the New Testament a metrical rendering is given of the quotations from the poetical 
parts of the Old Testament, by which means they are more readily distinguished from the other parts 
of the text. Dr. Yates was successfully prosecuting the translation of the Old Testament, when his 
career of usefulness was suddenly interrupted by death. A short time previous to his decease, foreseeing 
his approaching end, he had expressed himself in the following terms in a letter addressed to his 
assistant, the Rev. Mr. Wenger: — " I think I may, in reference to your life and mine, use the language 
of John, — ' You must increase, but I must decrease.' May I only live to see you as far advanced in 
the Sanscrit as you now are in the Bengalee, and I shall die in peace, rejoicing in the goodness of God 
in raising up one after another to carry on his work." Immediately after the removal of this devoted 
translator (1845), on examining the state of the version, it was found that the books of Genesis, Psalms, 
Proverbs, and Isaiah, had all passed through the press, and that the rest of the Pentateuch and the 
books of Job, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, and Daniel had been prepared in MS. The missionaries then 
agreed that " the pundit who had long been engaged in writing the rough draft of the version should 
proceed in his work, and that Mr. Wenger should, by studying the language prepare himself for revising 
and publishing the work." This plan has since been pursued at Calcutta. The second volume of the 



Plate III. 
Page 91. 



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Class III.] PALI. 91 

Old Testament, containing the historical books from Judges to Esther inclusive, had been completed 
in 1852, and a third volume, bringing the translation up to the Song of Solomon, was finished in 1858. 
The completion of this important work is still engaging attention, and will probably not be long 
delayed. A revised edition of Genesis, with the first twenty chapters of Exodus, has also been pub- 
lished. The books of Psalms and Proverbs have been reprinted from the Sanscrit in Bengalee charac- 
ters; the book of Genesis and the Gospel of St. Luke have also been issued in the same form. 

IV. RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

It is written that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, and that " not many wise men 
after the flesh" are called. The Sanscrit Scriptures are designed for a learned class who are entrenched 
behind the subtleties of a specious metaphysical system, and few indeed are those who have been willing 
to lay aside their boasted wisdom, falsely so called, that as little children they might learn of God. 
Yet undeniable evidences of interest in the Sanscrit version have from time to time been afforded. On 
the publication of the Psalms, for instance, in 1840, it is related that the pundits of Agra received 
copies of the work with intense avidity, and that each man walked away with his book as joyfully as 
if he had obtained a diamond. When it is considered that the influence of the Brahminical priesthood 
in India is at least equal to that of the Romish in Europe, and moreover that the Brahmins in general 
are too proud to read the Scriptures in any of the vernacular dialects of the country, it becomes evident 
that the dissemination of the Sanscrit version is the channel at present indicated by the providence 
of God for conveying the light of truth to the minds of the priests, and through them to their deluded 
followers. 

The beneficial results of the publication of the Sanscrit version are likewise to be traced in its 
influence on other versions. Most of, if not all, the current dialects of India are founded upon the 
Sanscrit, and are dependent upon that language for words to express metaphysical ideas. The Sanscrit 
is, therefore, a standard version, whence the translators of the Scriptures into the petty dialects of the 
country can draw their abstract and doctrinal terms, and by means of which uniformity in the numerous 
vernacular versions is secured. 



PALI. 

EOE SPECIMEN OE THE PALI VEESION, see Plate 3, page 91. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT. 

Pali, though no longer a vernacular language in any country, has for ages been established as the 
religious and learned language of the Buddhists in the island of Ceylon, in the Burman Empire, in 
Siam, Laos, Pegu, Ava, and throughout almost the whole of the Eastern Peninsula of India. It 
cannot, however, be said that the influence of the Pali language is co-extensive with the predominance 
of Buddhism, for the sacred books of the Buddhists of Japan, Tibet, and the Chinese Empire are 
written in a language which is called Fan by the Chinese, rgyagarshat by the Tibetans, enedhek and 
endkek by the Mongols. By the examination of some of these writings which have fallen into the 
hands of Europeans, it has been ascertained that the language passing under these several denominations 
is no other than pure Sanscrit: and the fact of the sacred books of the same religion being written 
partly in Sanscrit and partly in Pali, is to be accounted for by supposing that, at the very remote 
period of history when the language and religion of Buddhism were conveyed into the countries north 



92 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

of India, Pali which is a derivative and comparatively a modern dialect, had not been formed. The 
first Buddhists were seceders from Brahminism, of which ancient creed Sanscrit seems ever to have 
been the depositary; and having thus been habituated to the use of a language admirably adapted 
for the embodiment of the highest metaphysical abstractions, they naturally employed it as the fittest 
exponent of the philosophical system which they originated. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Pali or Bali is a language immediately derived from Sanscrit, and its whole history is intimatelv 
connected with that of Buddhism. It was probably the native language of Magadha, the birth-place of 
Buddha. On the rise of Buddhism in India, the rigid enactments of the Brahminical law concerning 
the distinction of castes or classes of society ceased to be respected among the votaries of the new 
religion. Men of the lowest and most despised caste were admitted by them into the priesthood; and 
it is conjectured that the arcana of religion, hitherto confined to the sacerdotal class, being thus thrown 
open to the people, the abstruse technicalities of the language became popularised, so to speak, in the 
mouth of the multitude. Among other changes thus adduced, difficult grammatical inflections dis- 
appeared, or were greatly simplified, and such combinations of letters in words as were not easy of 
articulation, were softened down in pronunciation. These peculiarities form, to this day, the distinctive 
characteristics of the Pali language. In its declensions it has preserved all the cases of the Sanscrit ; 
but the original inflections, both of nouns and verbs, have undergone more or less alteration according 
to the special rules of Pali enunciation. The middle voice of verbs is not found in Pali, and the passive 
form is comparatively of rare occurrence. Among the three numbers of Sanscrit verbs and nouns 
(singular, dual, and plural), the dual has disappeared in Pali, in the same way that it has disappeared 
in the modern Germanic languages and in modern Greek, although it existed in Gothic and in ancient 
Greek. And in the laws regulating the assimilation of consonants in Pali may be clearly traced the 
operation of the same principles which have been instrumental in the transmutation of Latin into 
Italian, and of ancient into modern Greek. The euphonic law, for instance, which requires the change 
of the Latin word lectus into letto, of scriptus into scritto, has equal weight in the formation of Pali 
words from Sanscrit, as of Italian from Latin. The Pali is less exact, but on the other hand it is 
easier to articulate, and softer than Sanscrit. 

It is probable that Pali, like other derivative languages, would ultimately have deviated widely 
from the type of the mother tongue, had not its further elaboration been repressed, by its becoming 
suddenly fixed as a dead language. The Buddhists appear from the first to have been always persecuted 
by the Brahmins; but about the beginning of the fifth century the persecution burst forth with renewed 
violence, and the Buddhists were forcibly ejected from the continent of India. They sought refuge in 
Ceylon, where Buddhism had been promulgated as early as the fourth century before the Christian 
era. From Ceylon many of the Buddhists passed over into the eastern peninsula, and adopting as their 
vernacular the languages of the various nations among whom they settled, Pali, the native dialect in 
which the books of their religion were written, was set apart as a sacred and classic tongue. In this 
state it has subsisted from generation to generation, unmodified in any degree by the various languages 
and dialects of the people by whom it is venerated. In comparing Pali with the other languages of 
the Sanscrit family, it will be found that it approaches nearer than any other dialect to the purity of 
the parent stock. Leyden imagined that Pali is identical with the modern Magadha, chiefly because 
the latter dialect is vernacular in a part of Bahar, supposed to have been the birthplace of Buddhism. 
It has since been proved by an analytical comparison of Pali and Magadha that, though similar in 
origin, they are essentially different in structure. A close resemblance has been, however, traced 
between the Pali and the Pracrit dialect spoken by the Jains, a peculiar religious sect of Hindustan; 
and the evident connection between the two dialects has led to the supposition, that the Jains are the 
descendants of a few Buddhists who contrived to secrete themselves in their own country during the 
persecutions which caused the banishment of their brethren. 



Class III.] PALI. 93 

III. — ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. 

There are several different Pali alphabets; but it is believed that they are all derived from an 
ancient Buddhistic alphabet formed on the model of the Devanagari. The classification of the letters 
is the same as that of the Sanscrit, yet they vary greatly in form, and the shape of the characters is 
considerably modified in each country where Pali is adopted as the language of books. Thus the Pali 
character used by the Burmans is square, that employed by the Siamese is a more rounded or circular 
form, in other places the Pali affects a more angular character, and the Pali character used in Ceylon is 
identical with the Burmese alphabet. 

IV. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

A version of the Scriptures into Pali was commenced in 1813, under the auspices of the Colombo 
Bible Society, by Mr. Tolfrey, assisted by two learned Buddhist priests, and by Don Abraham de 
Thomas, mohandirara of the governor's gate. The plan upon which this translation was conducted 
was the following: — Mr. Tolfrey, in the first place, read a certain number of verses from Dr. Carey's 
Sanscrit New Testament to Don Abraham de Thomas, and the latter rendered the passage into Pali 
as closely as the idiom of the language would admit. This translation was then compared verse by 
verse with the Sanscrit, and such alterations were introduced as were deemed requisite. Where any 
difficulty occurred in rendering the Sanscrit expressions into Pali, the Bengalee version was consulted. 
The time devoted to this translation was three hours of the day, regularly six times in the course of the 
month. The progress of the work was interrupted in 1817 by the death of Mr. Tolfrey, who was 
suddenly cut off in the prime of life. The version, which he had carried as far as the end of the Epistle 
to Philemon, seems to have been laid aside till 1825, when the Rev. Benjamin Clough submitted it to 
the examination of the most learned Pali scholars in Ceylon ; and the opinion which they passed upon 
it was, that it had been executed " with a high degree of beauty and perfection." Efforts were, there- 
fore, made for its publication; and in 1826, a fount of Burman types cast for the purpose was sent to 
Ceylon at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. In the course of the following year, 
the Gospel of Matthew was struck off, and copies were sent to the Burman empire for examination by 
competent judges. It was not, however, till 1835 that the whole Testament was printed in Pali. 
One of the Buddhist priests who assisted Mr. Tolfrey in the translation of this Testament, became a 
sincere convert to Christianity, and subsequently devoted his whole attention to the completion and 
revision of this important work. 



94 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. TClass III. 



HINDUSTANI. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

<£_ ld»~ {i ^* \sl>\ L5i( j * Igj 1a=l <uK jj! Iff Af>L ^ 1a=u <ul£ jj! l^j' <uK ^» IjJuI 
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I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

To those who visit India in an official capacity, or for mercantile purposes, Hindustani is more practically 
useful than all the other languages of the country, for it is understood and spoken by persons of different 
nations in the larger towns and villages, from Madras to Bombay, and from the Ganges to Cape Como- 
rin. It is, in fact, the prevailing medium of colloquial intercourse among a hundred millions of British 
subjects. Yet this language, although so extensively diffused throughout India, can claim predomi- 
nance in no particular locality. It is the vernacular of a class of persons who, on account of their 
professing the Mohammedan religion, are called Mussulmans: they are natives of India, but chiefly 
derive their descent from the Mohammedan conquerors of the country. In number, they were said 
some years ago to amount to 6,000,000 individuals, but more recent accounts represent them as con- 
stituting one ninth part of the entire population of India. They reside chiefly in the upper provinces 
of Hindustan ; but so far from confining themselves to any particular province, they are to be met with 
in almost every part of the country, and particularly in the cities of Delhi, Lucknow, Allahabad, Patna, 
and Moorshedabad. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Hindustani, the language of " Hindu-stan" or " country of Hind," is a mixed language, and owes 
its formation to the intercourse of the Mohammedan invaders with the conquered natives of India. At 
the time of the first Mohammedan invasions, which date from the tenth century, Hinduwee, or Hindi, 
was the prevailing dialect in Northern India. On their permanent settlement in India, the Moham- 



Class III.] HINDUSTANI. 95 

medans adopted this dialect as the medium of communication with the natives, but they greatly altered 
it by the introduction of words and idioms from the Persian and Arabic, their own vernacular and liturgic 
languages. The new dialect thence arising was called Urdu {camp), or Urdu Zaban (camp language), 
because the language of the Mohammedan camp and court: it was also called Hindustani, from the 
geographical region through which it ultimately became diffused. Though so intimately connected 
with Hinduwee, which is essentially a Sanscrit language, Hindustani deviates greatly in grammatical 
structure from the original Sanscrit type. Its nouns have but two genders and two numbers, and 
although they admit of declension, yet the six cases are chiefly distinguished by the aid of post- 
positive particles. Nouns denoting neuter and inanimate objects are classed under the masculine 
or feminine genders, according to their terminations ; but the rules regulating this classification are 
extremely arbitrary, and admit of many exceptions. The just application of these rules forms one of 
the principal difficulties of the language; but in other respects, Hindustani is comparatively easy of 
attainment, on account of the extreme simplicity of its structure. The verb, which in most languages 
occasions more or less perplexity to the learner, is in Hindustani distinguished by extreme regularity. 
There is only one conjugation, and not more than five or six words slightly irregular. Most of the 
tenses are formed by means of participles and auxiliaries, the rest by inseparable affixes. Neuter verbs 
have no passive form, but transitive verbs are said to possess a passive, although it is seldom used: 
natives, especially those in the presidency of Bombay, purposely refrain from resorting to this form, 
and prefer the use of a periphrasis. Hindustani is spoken in different provinces with various local 
peculiarities of idiom. The dialect of Hindustani current in the Madras presidency is called Dukhani. 
Another variety of Hindustani is a species of jargon called Moors, spoken by the servants of Europeans 
iu Calcutta and Bombay, and characterised by the absence of all grammatical inflection, and the frequent 
introduction of English and Portuguese words. 

III. — ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. 

The alphabetical characters properly belonging to the Hindustani language are the Arabic, or 
rather the Persic modification of the Arabic letters called Ta&llk; that is to say, hanging or sloping. 
This latter mode of writing differs from the Nashki, or regular Arabic, about as much as our ordinary 
style of manuscript writing differs from that in print. To the Persian characters (which exceed the 

SPECIMEN IN THE DEVANAGAEI CHAEACTEE. St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

^ ^ ^fri<i "»f flKfc5F: m %^ ejifcSJ?: ^t ^r *rra *rr #tt cf%h: j^\ ■srr * xnrt ^fir^r li pr^T ^ 

M T* H ^ #TT ^ f<y^*TT TjnsS 'cFT 7R *ft * %^ ^ Albert >' ^chri T | %* TTTCToFt 3 ^ ^Tt^ ^ 
Q.10 W^T 3% WR\ ^TT * ^C ^ TW^ ^ ^ ^ ^ '^K^ ^ ^ ^T*" W WT7TT % d^R '^njTT | * .^ 

"ft stir h *rr #rc *t^r ^ft $ *t^ ?^rr #rc *tit?t ^ ^% ^t»trt * j|? ^mf *mr wnrr %rc ^nr^t 
i^ "Jr "3^ '<*^<$ t f^fn * ^f<*?t fonHrt *r tj? <*<^ fwm T$^ ■g^t ^Icm <*y$fi f% t^t ^r i*(.y>4 



96 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

Arabic by four) the Mussulmans in writing their language add three other letters, to represent the 
harsh cerebral sounds t, d, and r of the Hinduwee. 

The Scriptures and several works in Hindustani have been printed in the Devanagari, or regular 
Sanscrit characters, for the use of the natives of the upper provinces, especially of Delhi. It was, 
however, afterward ascertained that the natives who employ these characters are, in general, more 
habituated to the use of the Hinduwee than of the Hindustani dialect. Eoman letters have, likewise, 
been used of late years in printing Hindustani, of which a specimen is subjoined. 

THE HINDUSTANI VERSION IN ROMAN LETTERS. St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

1 SHURU men kalam tha, aur wuh kalam Khuda ke pas tha, aur wuh kalam Khuda 
tha. 2 Wuhi shurii men Khuda ke pas tha. 3 Sab kuchh us se paida hiia, aur baghair 
us ke ek chiz paida na hui, jo paida hiii. 4 Us men zindagi thi, aur wuh zindagi 
admion ki roshni thi. 6 Aur wuh roshni tariki men chamakti hai, par tariki ne use 
daryaft na kiya. 

6 Yuhanna nam ek admi Khuda ki taraf se bheja gay a. 7 Wuh gawahi ke waste aya, 
ki roshni par gawahi de, taki us ke wasile se sab iman lawen. 8 Wuh ap wuh roshni 
na tha, balki us roshni par gawahi dene ko aya. 9 Wuh sachi roshni, jo har admi ko 
roshan karti hai, dunya men anewali thi. l0 Wuh dunya men thi, aur dunya us se paida 
hiii, par dunya ne use nahin pahchana. " Wuh apnon ke pas aya, par apnon ne use 
qabul na kiya ; 12 lekin jitne use qabiil karke us ke nam par iman lae, us ne unhen Khuda 
ke farzand hone ka martaba diya ; 13 we lahii se nahin na insan ki khwahish, na mard 
ki khwahish se, balki Khuda se paida hue hairi. 

u Aur wuh kalam mujassam hiia, aur fazl aur sachai se bharpiir hoke hamare darmiyan 
sakunat kar raha ; aur ham ne us ka jalal aisa, jaisa bap ke iklaute ka jalal dekha. 

IV. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The first translation of any portion of Scripture into Hindustani seems to have been made by 
Schultze, a Danish missionary. Although fully occupied in the cultivation of Tamil and Telinga, 
dialects of Southern India, the scene of his labours, this indefatigable man undertook the translation of 
the New Testament into Hindustani in 1739, and completed it in 1741. He likewise entered upon 
the translation of the Old Testament, but only lived to finish the first four chapters of Genesis, the 
book of Psalms, the prophecies of Daniel, and some parts of the Apocryphal writings. These various 
translations were published at the Oriental Institution of the University at Halle, in separate portions: 
the chapters of Genesis, the book of Daniel, and portions of the Apocrypha, in 1745; the Psalter in 
1747, and the New Testament in 1748 to 1758. Copies were at various times transmitted to India, 
but the hopes and expectations of the zealous translator were never realised, for the translation proved 
to be by no means a happy one; and the Psalms, in particular, were found so defective in idiom and 
orthography as to be nearly unintelligible. No other version of the Scriptures, however, was prepared 
for the benefit of the Mussulmans of India till the year 1804, when the Gospels, which had been trans- 
lated by natives, and revised and collated with the Greek by William Hunter, Esq., were published at 
the College of Fort William in Calcutta. 

But the most important translation that has been ever made into this language is the version of 
the New Testament by the Eev. Henry Martyn, for which, as his biographer remarks, " myriads in 
the ages to come will gratefully remember and revere his name." Mr. Martyn entered upon the work 
of translation shortly after his arrival in India, and commenced with the Acts. In 1807 he was joined 
by Mirza Fitrut, a learned Hindustani scholar, whose services were found invaluable on account of his 



Class III.] HINDUSTANI. 97 

surprising acquaintance with the English language. Sabat was also consulted respecting the use of 
Persian and Arabic words, but his evil temper greatly detracted from his usefulness. By means of the 
most indefatigable exertions, the translation of the entire Testament was completed in 1808. Mr. 
Martyn remarked, that it often cost him and his coadjutors whole days to make one chapter intelligible 
in Hindustani. Of the feelings and personal experience of the translator during the progress of this 
work, we have happily the means of judging. In a letter addressed to the Associated Clergy, and 
dated January 1808, Mr. Martyn expresses himself in the following terms: — " If the work should fail, 
which however I am far from expecting, my labour will have been richly repaid by the profit and 
pleasure derived from considering the word of God in the original with more attention than I had ever 
done. Often have I been filled with admiration, after some hours' detention about one or two verses, 
at the beauty and wisdom of God's words and works; and often rejoiced at meeting a difficult passage, 
in order to have the pleasure of seeing some new truth emerge. It has been frequently a matter of 
delight to me that we shall never be separated from the contemplation of these divine oracles, or the 
wondrous things about which they are written. Knowledge shall vanish away, but it shall be only 
because the perfection of it shall come." The philological difficulties, which Mr. Martyn had to 
encounter in the prosecution of his work, were by no means few or inconsiderable. No prose com- 
positions of acknowledged purity at that period existed in Hindustani, so that he had no model upon 
which to form his style, and no recognised standard of appeal. The higher Mohammedans and men 
of learning were then, as they still are, disdainful of all works in which the Persian had not lent its aid 
to adorn the style; while to the illiterate classes a large proportion of Hindustani has always been more 
acceptable. To meet the conflicting views of these two parties has ever been found a task of no ordinary 
difficulty; and hence, notwithstanding the labour expended on his version of the New Testament, 
Mr. Martyn addressed himself, immediately on its completion, to a diligent and careful revision. The 
publication of the work was farther delayed by the fire which occurred at Serampore at the time that 
it was passing through the press. The printing had advanced to the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel 
of St. Matthew, of which the first thirteen chapters were preserved; and as there was then a general 
demand for the Hindustani Scriptures, the Calcutta Committee ordered the completion of St. Matthew 
at one of the presses in Calcutta. The fount of Persian types which had been used in printing was 
completely destroyed; but new and handsomer types were prepared in the course of a few months, and 
the work was a second time put to press at Serampore. At length, in the year 1814, this invaluable 
version appeared, in an edition of 2000 copies of the Testament on English paper; beside 3000 copies 
of the Gospels and Acts on Patna paper, which were printed off for immediate use. The whole was 
printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, by their Corresponding Committee 
in Calcutta. 

The high reputation which this version speedily obtained, and the success with which it was used 
in native schools at Agra and other places, led to a demand for an edition in the Devanagari character, 
for the benefit of the Hindoos in the upper provinces, who universally read and write in this char- 
acter. The Calcutta Committee yielded to the wishes of these people by furnishing them, in 1817, 
with an edition of 2000 copies of Martyn's Testament, printed in the Devanagari character. No sub- 
sequent editions of the Hindustani Scriptures were, however, issued in this dress, for it was found by 
experience that the Scriptures in the Hinduwee dialect are far more acceptable than in the Hindustani 
to the numerous class of natives who employ the Devanagari characters. For their use, as we shall 
hereafter have occasion to mention, Martyn's New Testament was eventually divested of its Persian and 
Arabic terms, and transferred into the Hinduwee idiom by Mr. Bowley. An edition of the Gospel of 
St. Matthew in Hindustani and English was published by the Calcutta Committee in 1820, and was 
found to be very acceptable to natives who were desirous of acquiring the knowledge of the English 
language. 

While these editions were being issued by the Calcutta Auxiliary, the publication of an edition 
in London had been contemplated by the Parent Society since the year 1815: the design was not 

8 



98 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

carried into execution till 1819, when an impression of 5000 copies was struck off with some Persian 
types, lent for the purpose by the Church Missionary Society. This edition was published under the 
able superintendence of the Rev. Professor Lee. Four thousand of the copies were forwarded to 
Calcutta, where they arrived most opportunely, and just at the period when the Calcutta Committee 
were projecting the publication of another edition, on account of the almost entire exhaustion of the 
copies of previous editions. The urgent necessity for fresh supplies of the New Testament having 
been thus met, the Calcutta Committee turned their attention to the publication of a Hindustani 
version of the Old Testament, which had been for some time contemplated. The preparation of this 
version had been almost completed prior to the decease of Mr. Martyn, by Mirza Fitrut, who had, on 
his first engagement as an assistant to Mr. Martyn, promised to learn the Hebrew language in order to 
qualify himself for translating the Old Testament from the original text. A copy of the book of 
Genesis belonging to this version had passed into the hands of the Church Missionary Society; they 
lent it in 1817 for publication to the British and Foreign Bible Society, and it was printed in London 
under the care of Dr. Lee. The Calcutta Society had, since the year 1816, been in possession of a 
rough draft of the entire version, and in 1819 their committee resolved to have it revised and com- 
pleted; the Eev. Messrs. Thomason and Corrie, with the aid of suitable native assistants, charged 
themselves with the execution. The first portion of the work published was an edition of 2000 copies 
of the Pentateuch, which appeared in 1823, and was in great request among the Mohammedans. 
The peculiar difficulties which impeded the progress of the learned men engaged in the preparation 
and revision of this version are thus described by the committee: — " It will be readily perceived by 
those who understand the language, that it is far from being easy to invest the Scriptures with an Urdu 
dress. Such an attempt is, perhaps, more difficult in this than in any other language, because of its 
being so generally and familiarly spoken. The habit of using certain words and phrases in the inter- 
course of common life, with the lowest domestics, on the most trivial occasions, attaches to them a sort 
of grovelling character, which in many instances does not really belong to them. It is not easy in 
such circumstances to separate the base from the pure metal, to distinguish what is precious in the 
currency from what is vile. It should also be considered, that where there is a great paucity of 
standard works on subjects peculiarly sacred, or rather no such work at all, many terms must be 
borrowed from sister dialects, many new words introduced, and phrases invented in describing things 
unknown, which must of necessity give an air of uncouthness to the style, with whatever care the 
labour be conducted." On the completion of the Pentateuch, the editors found it desirable to delay 
the publication of the succeeding books, in order that the MS. might first be subjected to a more 
thorough revision and collation with the original Hebrew. In the meantime, however, that the press 
might not remain unemployed, they passed on to the printing of another edition of the New Testa- 
ment. The proofs of the Gospels were revised by the Eev. Principal Mill; but in 1824, when the 
work had advanced as far as the Acts of the Apostles, its superintendence appears to have devolved on 
other gentlemen, probably from the pressing nature of his college duties and avocations. The revision 
was carried on to the 2nd Corinthians by the lamented Mr. Thomason, and afterwards by Mr. Da Costa 
to the close, under the superintendence of the venerable Archdeacon Corrie. The edition, consisting 
of 2000 copies, left the press in 1830. The following year another edition of the New Testament, 
consisting of 2000 copies, was commenced at Serampore, under the superintendence of Archdeacon 
Corrie: it was completed in 1834. 

During the publication of these two editions of the New Testament, the revision of the Old 
Testament version was gradually proceeding. It continued to advance in regular order from the 
Pentateuch to the end of the 2nd book of Kings, when it was brought to a stand, on account of the 
ill health of Mr. Thomason, and his consequent removal to Europe. His anxiety to complete a version 
which he considered of the first importance, and which he was most peculiarly qualified to execute, 
induced him to return to India, but his valuable life was shortly afterwards terminated. After the 
decease of Mr. Thomason, this version was carried forward by the missionaries at Benares; and the 



Class III.] HINDUSTANI. 99 

Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society made a grant of £1000 to the London Missionary 
Society, for time and services rendered by their missionaries in prosecuting the work. In 1844 the 
committee announced that the Old Testament was at length completed; and that editions, both in 
Arabic and Bornan characters, were in course of distribution. It was brought to its conclusion and 
revised by Messrs. Shurman and Kennedy of Benares, assisted by the Bev. J. Wilson of Allahabad, 
and J. A. F. Hawkins, Esq. 

In 1839 the Calcutta Committee published 2000 copies of the New Testament in Boman characters, 
and 1000 copies of Anglo-Hindustani, in the same characters; the English and Hindustani texts 
arranged in opposite columns on the same page. Several missionaries had expressed a desire for such 
a version, as one adapted to the wants of native Christians, drummers, etc. acquainted with the 
English letters. 

In addition to their labours in the revision of the Old Testament, the missionaries at Benares 
were, in 1838, preparing for the Calcutta Committee a new or revised version of the Gospels and 
Acts, to be printed in Fersian characters. In 1842 the Calcutta Committee announced the completion 
of a thorough revision of the entire New Testament, for which they acknowledged their obligation to 
the joint labours of the missionaries of the London and Church Missionary Societies, who had 
for five years devoted all their spare time to this important work. During the same year, the Com- 
mittee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, on the application of the Directors of the London 
Missionary Society, paid the expenses of printing, in London, 5000 copies of the Hindustani New 
Testament, prepared by Mr. Buyers and other missionaries at Benares. This edition was printed in 
Boman characters. When the edition of the Old Testament in Boman characters was passing through 
the press, this version was selected by the Calcutta Committee to accompany it, as it was deemed 
desirable to have the Old and New Testaments in a uniform translation. An edition of 1500 copies 
of the New Testament was therefore determined upon; but the work was previously revised by the 
Kev. Mr. Shurman in communication with Mr. Hawkins; and in the course of the revision, Mr. Shur- 
man saw reason to revert, in a great measure, to the translation of Henry Martyn, especially in the 
latter half of the version. The edition had left the press in 1844. Mr. Shurman was subsequently 
engaged, at Benares, in the revision of the Old Testament translation, when (in 1852) death interrupted 
his valuable labours. 

It appears, therefore, that besides the version by the Bev. Henry Martyn, there are now three 
different versions of the Hindustani New Testament in existence ; namely, the version of a committee 
at Benares, the version of Mr. Buyers above noticed, and a version prepared by the Baptist missionaries 
of Calcutta in 1841. Some little progress has recently been made in printing the latter in Boman 
characters ; and it appears to have advanced as far as the Gospel of St. Luke. Among these new trans- 
lations, the idiomatic and faithful version of Henry Martyn still maintains its ground, although from 
the lofty elegance of its style it is better understood by educated than by illiterate Mohammedans. 

The Hindustani version of the Scriptures has undergone subsequent revision at the hands of a 
committee appointed for the purpose, and later editions, both of the Old and New Testament, have 
appeared. Some of these have been printed in the Arabic, and others in the Boman character. An 
edition of the New Testament in Urdu (Arabic character), after several years of anxious labour on the 
part of the reviser, Mr. Hoernle, was approaching towards completion, when the mutiny of 1857 inter- 
rupted the operations of the Bible Society, and involved in destruction the whole of their premises, with 
the stock of books, paper, presses, etc., at Secundra, near Agra, where the work was in progress. It was 
determined, in the place of that which had been thus destroyed, to print immediately a lrage edition in 
London, and this has happily been accomplished. From the British and Foreign Bible Society's 
Beport for the present year (1860), we learn that 20,000 New Testaments, and 30,000 single Gospels 
and Acts, in Urdu, Arabic character, have just left the press. The greater portion have already been 
forwarded to Allahabad. Ten thousand copies of the Urdu New Testament, in Boman characters, and 
the same number with English in parallel columns, have also been carried through the press. 



100 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass III. 

IV- RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OP THIS VERSION. 

One of the earliest evidences that occurred in testimony that the blessing of God rested upon this 
version, is afforded in the case of Abdool Messee. This devoted native missionary was originally a 
bigoted Mohammedan. When Mr. Martyn's version of the New Testament was completed, some 
copies were given to Abdool to bind. He was led to look into the books, and found there, to his 
astonishment, a description of his own heart, and of his state as a sinner. Conviction was followed by 
conversion, he devoted himself to the service of God, and was made eminently useful as a preacher of 
the Gospel among his countrymen. The general effect produced on the Mussulmans of India by the 
distribution of their vernacular Scriptures is more favourable than could have been expected from the 
known bigotry of the sect. In 1844 the Rev. W, Robinson of Dacca thus describes their condition: — 
" It is a pleasing feature," says he, " in the present state of things, that the followers of Mohammed, so 
long remarkable for their determined opposition to the Gospel, do now, in great numbers, read the 
Word of God. Their prejudices are much diminished; they hear us almost in silence; and some are, 
we hope, searching the Scriptures in order to discover the truth. There is a very marked change in 
the Hindoos and the Mohammedans; the result, we believe, of a very liberal dispersion of the sacred 
Scriptures. We cannot speak of conversion ; but we do hope that the public mind is preparing for a 
great revolution in favour of the Gospel." 



HINDU WEE. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

q ^ ^ra"*? ■ett^t *n , srrer f^rc^r im ^t , ^rrr ^rro ^ro t^src i ^ ^rrer "* |^i& *n *n ■ ^Kii tf mtr 
3 8 *ffe ^re ?f . thus *fe wt ^w ?i ^"tfir fTTT TTofr W *fi swa ^if -3i| i ^*4 Trhnr\ #t 

% 9 ^GTC ^R7 %C$ ^TfR vnJT^P Jjgr SR H*IT TOT I ^K *W ^int ^TT ff^m ^ITCR W f$~k ^ ^ifff ^ 

t f^inj crt wu ^ oifr *n^ft ^? ft ^tmT \ ^ ^ntr?T ifr ^rfir | st ^?T ; ^tj ^rt i^ifn wt 

(> =io *nsji ^ ^nzrr i 9i »r *ttit * m to towt «pt ^rfs iren^i ^h f, ^ *rrc ^ifa fi i^jt ^ 

<n wk %t ^njft -3-r^w ftpn ^t ^*ft "it mvtf ^i ; ntn tf wtt; ^ to^t % ^TOit toT ^f^T i ^m^ 

<^ ^ftnrrc*? ^nri, f%w Uttr •g* crt ^t^to? f^ron #i *ft ftrintT 3^£ tffir faRT, ^h\ ?* 3? 

^fa^ura ^n toot wt ^ara r?T ?*tt, -qtw f^R fT * |^IT I 
ig *rr? ht^t jttot^t ^q?m; ft ^^r? ^r vmm^ ^§ ft fmx; *n x^i, #t %h fqwi^r itsr^tk ip^ri 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 
HlNDUWEE, with its various dialects, is spoken in all the upper provinces of India. The population 
of these provinces is little short of 25,000,000. In these provinces the Mohammedans, as before stated, 
speak Hindustani; but the Hindoos, properly so called, who profess Brahminism, speak Hinduwee, or 



Class III.] HINDUWEE. 101 

one of its numerous dialects. The knowledge of Hindu wee seems to extend beyond the provinces to 
which it is vernacular, and the Rev. Mr. Buyers of Benares mentions, as the result of his own experience 
and observation, that the Hinduwee, such as is used at Benares, is understood by the Eajpoots of 
Central India, and even by the Sikhs, the Nepalese, the Guzerattees, and the Mahrattas, who have 
distinct dialects of their own. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Hinduwee was the language of the ancient and extensive empire of the Canyacubjas in Upper 
India, of which Canyacubja, or Canoj, was the capital. Its affinity to the Sanscrit is very remarkable, 
and about nine-tenths of its words may be traced to that language ; but that Sanscrit is the root, says 
Col. Colebrooke, " from which the Hinduwee has sprung, not Hinduwee the dialect upon which Sans- 
crit has refined, may be proved from etymology, the analogy of which has been lost in Hinduwee but 
preserved in the Sanscrit." Many Hinduwee words are pure and unaltered Sanscrit, and others differ 
only from Sanscrit vocables by the regular permutation of certain letters. There is a small proportion 
of words in this language, however, of which the origin is not Sanscrit, and all attempts to trace these 
words to some other language have hitherto proved unsatisfactory. In idiom and construction Hinduwee 
resembles Hindustani, of which, as before mentioned, it in fact forms the groundwork; the chief 
difference between the two dialects consisting in the predominance of Persian and Arabic words and 
phrases in Hindustani, and the almost total exclusion of foreign admixture in Hinduwee. There is a 
difference, likewise, between the written characters belonging to these dialects; the Persian or Arabic 
characters appertain properly to the Hindustani, while the Devanagari are the proper characters of 
the Hinduwee. The Kyt'hee or writers' character, which is an imperfect imitation, and in some 
respects an alteration, of the Devanagari, is also used in writing and printing Hinduwee, particularly 
by the trading community; and it is said, that of the lower class of natives there are ten who read and 
write in the Kyt'hee for one who transacts business in the Devanagari. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

At the period when a translation of the Scriptures into this language was first attempted, some 
little confusion existed in respect to the right application of the terms Hinduwee and Hindustani. 
The Serampore missionaries, in their First Memoir, speak of a Hindustani which draws principally on 
the Persian and Arabic for its supplies; and of another which has recourse in the same manner to the 
Sanscrit: of the one, as quite unintelligible to Sanscrit pundits born and brought up in Hindustan; 
and of the other, as equally unintelligible to their Mussulman moonshees. By the latter of these dialects 
they evidently meant the Hinduwee: and to their translation of the Scriptures into this dialect they 
afterwards correctly applied the name Hindee. This version was commenced in 1802; and in 1807 the 
whole of the New, and portions of the Old, Testaments were completed and ready for revision. It is one 
of the versions which the Eev. Dr. Carey translated with his own hand, and of which the New Testament 
was rendered immediately from the Greek. The Gospels were printed in 1809, and in 1811 an edition 
of 1000 copies of the entire New Testament was published at Serampore. This edition was received 
with so much avidity by the people, that in 1812, almost every copy had been distributed, and it was 
found requisite to issue another edition, consisting of 4000 copies, which was completed at press in 
1813. These copies were speedily exhausted, and on a third edition being urgently demanded, the 
Serampore missionaries determined to publish a version executed by the Rev. John Chamberlain, in 
preference to their own; assigning as a reason for this measure that a comparison of independent 
versions, made by persons long and intimately acquainted with the language, is the means most likely 
to tend to the ultimate formation of an idiomatic and standard version. The publication of Mr. 
Chamberlain's version was commenced with an edition of 4000 copies of the Gospels in 1819. This 
edition was printed in the Devanagari character; and in the following year another edition of the 
Gospels, consisting of 3000 copies, appeared in the Kyt'hee character. The further publication of this 



102 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

version was interrupted by the lamented decease of Mr. Chamberlain. The Rev. J. T. Thompson, a 
Baptist missionary long resident at Delhi, then undertook the revision of the entire version of the New 
Testament and of the Psalms, and an edition of 3000 copies of the Gospels was printed in 1824 under 
his superintendence. Of the Old Testament, the only version printed at Serampore appears to have 
been that of Dr. Carey. It was published in successive portions; the Pentateuch appeared in 1813, and 
1000 copies of the entire Old Testament were completed in 1818. More recently, another edition of 
the Hindee gospels in the Kyt'hee character has been carried through the press, by the joint labours 
of Mr. Leslie and Mr. Parsons of Monghir. A revision of the Gospels in the Devanagari character, by 
Mr. Parsons, has also been for some time past in progress, and editions of St. Matthew and St. Mark 
have issued from the press: the Gospel of St. Luke was reported, in 1858, as being completed in 
MS., and ready for the press. 

Another version of the Hinduwee New Testament was published by the Calcutta Bible Society; 
the Gospel of St. Matthew in 1819, and the other books at successive intervals, until the completion of 
the entire Testament in 1826. This version is not a new or independent translation, but is through- 
out substantially the same as Martyn's Hindustani version, from which it differs chiefly in the sub- 
stitution of Sanscrit for Persian and Arabic terms. Martyn's Testament was thus adapted to the use 
of persons speaking the Hinduwee dialect by the Rev. W. Bowley, agent of the Church Missionary 
Society at Chunar. Being unacquainted with the original languages of Scripture, he consulted the 
English authorised version in all passages where the Hinduwee idiom required him to alter Martyn's 
admirable renderings, referring at the same time to the best commentators on Scripture. Mr. Corrie 
revised the first edition of the work. New editions of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark were 
published in 1827; and in 1833 a third edition of these Gospels, to the extent of 4000 copies, was 
issued. Mr. Bowley also undertook the transference of the Hindustani version of the Old Testament 
into the Hinduwee dialect, and in 1827 the books of Psalms, Proverbs, and Isaiah had been published, 
and the whole work was announced as ready for the press as far as the 2nd Book of Kings, at which 
point the labours of Mr. Thomason in the parent version had been arrested. In 1828 or 29, 4000 
copies of Genesis were printed, followed in 1831 by similar editions of Exodus and Leviticus, and a 
second edition of 2000 copies of Isaiah. In 1835 a revision of the New Testament was undertaken 
by Dr. Mill of Bishop's College; and in 1838 an edition of 1000 New Testaments, besides about 
4000 extra copies of the Gospels and Acts, was published at the expense of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, in Devanagari characters. Another edition of the Gospels and Acts, of similar extent, 
and printed in the Kyt'hee character, was published during the same year by the same society. In 
1847 an edition consisting of 2500 copies of the New Testament, and of 1000 extra copies of the 
Gospels and Acts, was published in the Kyt'hee character at the American Mission press at Allahabad; 
and about the same period 2500 copies of the Psalms, printed in the Devanagari character, were issued 
from the Bible Society's press at Agra. 

According to late accounts received from India, two separate revisions of the Hinduwee versions 
were tben in progress: the one conducted by- a sub-committee appointed for the purpose by the 
Auxiliary Bible Society at Agra; and the other by Mr. Leslie, a Baptist missionary at Calcutta. 
Subsequent editions of the Hindee New Testament — both in the Hindee-Kyt'hee, and Devanagari 
(or Deva-Nagri) characters — have since issued; the former from the press of the Bible Society's 
Auxiliary at Calcutta, and the latter from the Agra press. The destruction of the Depository at Agra, 
during the mutiny of 1857, involved the loss of the entire stock of Hindee and other Scriptures then 
on hand, as well as the demolition of the press actively at work there. It was felt necessary to make 
immediate provision for replacing the loss by a fresh edition of the New Testament in Hindee, which 
the Committee of the Parent Society accordingly undertook to print in London. Editions of 20,000 
Hindee New Testaments, with 30,000 single Gospels and Acts, have been completed during the present 
year (1860), having been printed under the editorial care of the Rev. Mr. Ullmann. An edition of 
Genesis, with twenty chapters of Exodus, in Hindee-Kyt'hee, issued from the press in 1855. 






Class III.] HINDUWEE DIALECTS. 103 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

The following instance, related by Mr. Thompson of Delhi, proves that Dr. Carey's Hindee 
version was really understood, studied, and valued by those among whom it was distributed. In 
1816, Mr. Thompson visited an aged Gosaee, residing at Patna, and found him well acquainted with 
the words of Christ and the great truths of revelation, which knowledge he had obtained by a simple 
perusal of the Hindee New Testament, without consulting a single Christian on the subject. As he 
was very grave and reserved, it was not, says Mr. Thompson, till the third or fourth visit that I 
obtained a sight of the book to which he owed all his light, and the separation from idolatry he was 
proud to confess : he related that, about four years previously, one of his disciples, having obtained a 
New Testament from the missionaries, brought it to him for approval. The old man had for thirty 
years entertained doubts relative to the Hindoo system ; and this book came to his help, and he received 
it even as the gift of God, and read it through. Then, wishing to teach his disciples a more perfect 
way, he regularly read it to from ten to seventy of them. Some of them said after a time, " Babajee 
(father), you wish to wean our minds from our shasters : we cannot regard what you say, or we shall 
be turned out of our caste." Unhappily this hint had some effect on the old man's mind, for he was 
loath to forego the world's applause. We are not told any thing farther respecting him ; but his case, 
while it illustrates the force of the divine word, "how can ye believe which receive honour one of 
another," proves likewise that this version of Scriptures is adapted to the comprehension and to the 
intellectual wants of the Hindoo. The following instance shows that Mr. Bowley's adaptation of 
Martyn's admirable version has been equally acceptable to the natives. About the year 1833 he left 
a case of books for distribution at Lucknow, and shortly afterwards received letters from several 
different individuals who had obtained copies, soliciting baptism. But the best testimony to the power 
of the Word of God was, that in these communications they distinctly acknowledged their hope of 
salvation in "the crucified Lord." 



HINDUWEE DIALECTS. 

The Hinduwee comprehends many dialects, strictly local and provincial, which differ from each other 
chiefly in the different proportions of Sanscrit, Arabic, or Persian terms (either pure or slightly cor- 
rupted) which enter into their composition. In point of grammatical inflections, these dialects in some 
instances vary considerably from the Hinduwee; the Serampore missionaries, in their Sixth Memoir, 
remark, " we have ascertained that there are more than twenty languages composed of nearly the same 
words, and all equally related to the common parent the Sanscrit, but each possessing a distinct set of 
terminations." Translations of the Scriptures into several of these dialects have been executed at 
Serampore ; and though it has of late years been found that the Hinduwee version is intelligible in 
districts where local or vulgar dialects are commonly spoken, and is therefore likely to supersede the 
Serampore versions, yet the zeal of the admirable men who devoted themselves to the multiplication of 
so many different versions of the Word of God is not the less to be commended. 

BRUJ, OR BRIJ-BHASA. 
The Bruj, or Brij-bhasa, is entitled to the first place in the enumeration of Hinduwee dialects,. on 
account of its very close affinity to the Hinduwee. It has been called the purest of the Hinduwee 
dialects, because it contains the greatest number of Sanscrit words. It is spoken throughout a con- 
siderable portion of the province of Agra. In the year 1811 the Rev. John Chamberlain, then 



104 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

stationed at Agra, commenced a version of the New Testament in this dialect, and in 1813 he had 
completed the translation of the Gospels. The prosecution of this work was suspended during some 
years, while Mr. Chamberlain was engaged in the preparation of the Hinduwee version. At length, 
however, in 1822, an edition of 3000 copies of the Gospels was published; and the whole of the New 
Testament had been completed at press prior to 1832, the date of the Tenth Memoir respecting their 
translations issued by the Serampore brethren. The character used in printing this and all the other 
Hinduwee dialects is the Devanagari, with a few diacritical points, to express the peculiar articulations 
of each dialect. 

An instance of the usefulness of this version occurred even before its publication. Anand 
Masih, a native employed in translating the New Testament into this dialect from the Urdu, was a 
Brahmin, and gained much money by officiating as priest. He had inquired into the nature of 
Mohammedanism, but had felt dissatisfied with it. He had then undertaken several long pilgrimages, 
and had submitted to much bodily suffering, in the vain hope of finding rest to his soul. Sub- 
sequently, while engaged in this translation of the Bible, light flashed on his mind; he became a 
teacher of Christianity at Meerut, under the Bev. Mr. Fisher, and was baptised in 1816. He was 
ordained by the Bishop of Calcutta in 1836, and was, in fact, the first Brahmin who received 
ordination. 

CANOJ, OR CANYACUBYA. 

The Canoj dialect is spoken in the Doab of the Ganges and Jumna, which latter river forms a 
line of demarcation between it and the Bruj dialect. Some accounts represent the Canoj as pre- 
dominant throughout the Delhi districts of Cawnpore, Etawah, Furruckabad, Allyghur, Bareilly, and 
Moradabad. It is closely connected with the Bruj, or Brij-bhasa, and both dialects are thought to 
have been originally one and the same : the local causes which gave rise to the slight differences in 
structure now existing between them are not known. The notices of a version of the Scriptures in 
the Canoj dialect are few and brief. We are only informed that the Serampore translators commenced 
a version of the New Testament in 1815; that it was printed as far as the Gospel of St. John in 1820; 
and completed in 1822 in an edition of 1000 copies. In the impossibility of obtaining any better 
testimony, we are assured by four Canoj pundits, that " the language of this Testament is such as 
is spoken by the people of Canoj, and that such as have read the book, have identified the language 
to be that of their country." 

KOUSULU OE KOSHALA. 

This dialect is spoken in the west of Oude, or rather in what constituted, prior to the annexation 
of the entire province in 1856, the reserved territory of the King of Oude. In the specimen of the 
Lord's Prayer in this dialect, given by the Serampore missionaries, twenty-seven of the words belong 
to the Bengalee and Hinduwee languages, and nearly all the rest are pure Sanscrit. In the year 1820, 
the Gospel of St. Matthew had been translated into Kousulu, and was in the press. But at this point 
the translation seems to have been dropped, and we are told no more respecting it. The want of 
funds, the pressure of other engagements, or the discovery that the Hinduwee version is intelligible 
to those who speak this dialect, may have occasioned the discontinuance of the work. 

BHOJEPOORA. 

BHOJEPOORA is the dialect in use throughout the districts of Benares, Juanpore, Ghazipore, 
Azimghur, and Gorruckpore, which together comprise an area of 16,780 square miles. No translation 
of the Scriptures has been attempted into this dialect, nor is one requisite, for Mr. Bowley's Hinduwee 
version has been freely circulated among the natives of these districts. 



Class III.] HINDUWEE DIALECTS. 105 

HURFJANA. 

HuRRIANA, in which this dialect is spoken, is a large division of the Delhi province, situated 
between 28° 35' and 29' 49' north latitude, and comprising, according to the latest parliamentary returns, 
an area of 3,300 square miles, with a population of 225,000. Its name is derived from "Hurya," 
signifying green ; for although situated on the verge of the Great Desert, it is celebrated for its 
verdure, yet probably only as compared with the neighbouring region. From the country having 
been so long the seat of the Mogul empire, this dialect is much corrupted with Persic and Arabic 
words ; it neither possesses nor requires a distinct translation of the Scriptures, the Hinduwee version 
being in use, as before stated, throughout Delhi. 

BUNDELCUNDEE. 

BuNDELCUND forms a large division of the Allahabad province, south-east of Agra, and is 
included between 23° 52' and 26° 26' north latitude; and between 77° 53' and 81° 33' east longitude. 
It contains 23,817 square miles, and a population of 2,400,000. From the specimen of the Lord's 
Prayer in Bundelcundee, given by the Serampore missionaries, we may judge that this dialect 
approaches as near as possible to the Brij-bhasa. It possesses no translation of the Scriptures; and 
from the labours of Mr. Bowley at Chunar, and other coadjutors in the neighbourhood, we have no 
reason to suppose that any other version will be required in this country beyond the general Hinduwee 
translation. 

BUGHELCUNDEE, OR BAGHELCUNDEE. 

BoGHELA, or BAGHELCUND, in which this dialect is vernacular, lies east, or rather south-east, of 
Bundelcund, and extends as far southward as the sources of the Nerbudda. No calculation has been 
furnished of its exact extent, but it is supposed to contain about 25,000 square miles: it is, however, 
very thinly populated. Bughelcundee is probably a corrupt dialect of the Hinduwee, but very little 
is known concerning it. A translation of the New Testament exists in this dialect, which was com- 
menced in 1814, and of which an edition of 1000 copies was struck off by the Serampore missionaries 
in 1821. But it appears probable that this version will eventually be superseded by the Hinduwee, 
as has already been the case with other translations in the Hinduwee dialects. The devoted zeal and 
untiring industry exhibited by the Serampore missionaries, in striving to bestow on every tribe and 
province of India a version of the Word of God, must ever be regarded with admiration by all 
Christians; yet it is now but too evident that their talents and energies were most lamentably mis- 
applied, for a more extended acquaintance with the country and its inhabitants has led to the conviction 
that fewer distinct versions of the Scriptures are required by the millions of India than were at first 
deemed necessary by the pioneers of Christianity in that extensive region. 



106 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 



DIALECTS OF CENTRAL INDIA. 

SPECIMEN OF THE HARROTEE VERSION, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

«» ^ t|% 'srftr ift ^r , =ffrr ^rcfa nii wt ^it ^f 1^r ^ i tt I%^t? |«yi.f<*: *tt^ wt i ^rnssi 

3 8 ^j ^to twr ^r ^t %m %tct tsf ^ ^nf^ ^n^ft -JTi^n %m ^t ^t i ■&( sftr?t # 

m %r ^ *ffa€t 5PRt^toR\ ^n^rt 'sft i ^r Tsrm^ wmwr tjtto hpit %*; ^.tr^r^ ^ ^r %^t i 

t ^nw^ >r % wtset ^w FtRR wt i ^ -g^fra •? ^ % ^rrf*R ^ ^rrafa wnnra ^r^ft *tx?n ^tptti 

<W v^m ?pft *SR tf*R^ "3^ ^ ^TT^ft I ^ ^Tq^TT TT^S mi ^lh ^R WW JPT^R 3^ 1 ^ 

^ ^t i *Hftr^ mr$ ^ ^ ■sptt ^t* ■?% ^RSfrr vn^iT iTwrfw jrfr f^ftr §^r ^rrtR ^twt *nnrR 

c«9 ^tT I ^^RTf ^fa T^IT ^TM ^R fc=TRfh ^R ST^TS^T W 5<T?R ^^r^NT%Jl i^T ^T mr 

^TrfNn *n»r q^T^lmT hh*k«*i ff *P«r ^wt *5t^ ^rr ^ wmr i 

In addition to the Hinduwee dialects, strictly so called, there are several other Indian dialects supposed 
to be corruptions of the general Hinduwee stock. These dialects may be classed together under 
the appellation of " Dialects of Central India," in allusion to the region where they are spoken, 
which comprises Mai wan and the Rajpoot states, and embraces an area of about 193,000 square miles, 
with a population of about 12,601,000. Comparatively little attention has hitherto been paid to these 
dialects by philologists, but it is evident, from such observations as have been made from time to time 
on their structure, that they are closely allied to the Hinduwee; and it is probable that with the 
multiplication of missionary schools, and the increase of education among the natives, the Hinduwee 
version of the Scriptures will eventually supersede all versions that have been made in these petty 
local dialects. It is, therefore, deeply to be regretted that the Serampore missionaries did not con- 
centrate their attention on the improvement of those versions that are really essential to India, instead 
of fruitlessly expending their time and labour on the production of translations in mere provincial 
dialects. Still it may not be uninteresting to trace their general mode of procedure in forming these 
versions, an account of which we have, as follows, in their own words: — " On engaging a pundit in 
one of these cognate languages, after having examined and ascertained his qualifications, we gave him 
an approved version of the Scriptures in a language with which he is well acquainted; for most of the 
pundits we employ, while good Sungskrit scholars, are also acquainted with at least one or two of the 
cognate languages of India, besides their own vernacular tongue, and some of them with three or four. 
Then placing bim among two or three other pundits who have been for years employed with us, we 
direct him to express the ideas he finds there in his own vernacular idiom, with the utmost care and 
exactness, and to ask questions wherever he finds it necessary. Meantime the grammatical terminations, 
and the peculiarities of the language, are acquired possibly by the time he has finished the first 
Gospel. The work of revision is then begun with the pundit. This, at first, proceeds very slowly, 
as nothing is suffered to go to press till fully understood and approved; and in some instances the 



Class III.] INDIAN DIALECTS. 107 

alterations made are so numerous, as to leave little of the first copy standing. This revision is, how- 
ever, of the highest value, as the discussions which it originates both lay open the language to us, 
and the sense of the original to the pundit. As we advance, we proceed with increased ease and 
pleasure, and seldom go through the fourth Gospel without feeling ourselves on firm ground, relative 
to the faithfulness and accuracy of the version. Thus a first version of the New Testament is produced, 
not inferior in accuracy, and far superior in point of style and idiom, to the first version of the Bengalee 
New Testament, the product of seven years' severe labour and study." 

OOJEIN, OR OUJJUYUNEE. 

OoJEIN is vernacular in Malwah, an extensive province of Central India, lying chiefly between 
22 and 26 degrees north latitude, and 74 and 80 degrees of east longitude, and including an area of 
about 67,360 square miles. The Oojein, although the vernacular of more than six millions of people, 
has never been subjected to philological analysis; yet all the accounts we possess respecting it concur 
in representing it as a corrupt and mixed dialect of the Hinduwee. A version of the New Testament 
in Oojein had been half carried through the press at Serampore in 1820; and the edition, which 
consisted of 1000 copies, was completed in 1824. 

HARROTEE. 

The province of Harrotee lies on the north-east extremity of M alwah ; it is generally reckoned 
among the Rajpoot states, and is governed by Rajpoot chiefs. Its area has been estimated at 9000 
square miles, and its population at one million. The Harrotee is evidently a corrupt dialect of the 
Hinduwee, but possesses many Persic words. In the Lord's Prayer in Harrotee, twenty-two of the 
words are found radically the same as those of the Serampore specimens in Bengalee and Hinduwee, 
with others of direct Persic origin. The Serampore translators commenced a version of the New 
Testament in this dialect in 1815, and an edition of 1000 copies was printed in 1822. With respect 
to the purity of the translation, we are left to the single testimony of Bhowanee Ram, overseer to 
Rajah Goverdhun, of Harrotee, the best that could possibly be obtained at the time, who says, " The 
book shown to me in the Harrotee is correct Harrotee, and will be understood by all the people of 
that country." 

OODEYPOORA. 

Oodeypoor, or Mewar, a Rajpoot state of the first rank, is bounded on the north by the British 
district of Ajmere; on the east by the native states of Boondee, Gwalior, and Pertabghur; on the 
south by Banswarra and Dongurpoor; on the north-west by Sirhohi and the district of Ajmere. It 
includes an area of 11,614 square miles, with a population estimated at 1,161,400. The specimen of 
the Lord's Prayer in the dialect of Oodeypoor, furnished by the Serampore missionaries, contains twenty- 
eight of the roots found in Hinduwee, with some others apparently of Persic origin. A version of the 
Gospel of St. Matthew in Oodeypoora was printed at Serampore in 1815, but we are not told of how 
many copies the edition consisted, nor from what cause the further prosecution of the translation was 
relinquished. 

MARWAR. 

JoUDPOOR, or Marwar, the region in which this dialect is spoken, is the most extensive of the 
Rajpoot states. It lies between 24° and 28° north latitude, and extends from Oodeypoor in the east 
to the province of Sinde in the west; including an area of 35,672 square miles, with a population 
estimated at 1,783,600. That the Marwar dialect contains many words of Hinduwee origin is well 
known, but we possess few details concerning its idioms or structure. The New Testament has been 
translated into Marwar by the Serampore missionaries; they commenced the version in 1814, and pub- 
lished an edition of 1000 copies in 1821. The testimony of a native as to its correctness, procured 



108 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

about the period of its publication, was to the following effect: — "The book shown me, translated into 
the Marwar dialect, is in very good Marwar, with here and there a phrase of the Doond'haree ( Jeypoor) 
dialect; but this is the case with the language now spoken in Marwar, and the book will be understood 
by all." 

JUYAPOOKA. 

Juyapoora is spoken in Joypoor or Jeypoor, a Kajpoot territory which lies east of Marwar and 
west of Agra, principally between 26 and 28 degrees of north latitude. It extends from north to 
south about 150 miles in its greatest length, and 140 miles from east to west, covering a surface of 
15,251 square miles. The population is estimated to amount to about a million and a half. In the 
Lord's Prayer, as given by the Serampore translators in this dialect, twenty -nine words may be traced 
to their Hinduwee and Bengalee specimens. A version of St. Matthew in Juyapoora was printed at 
Serampore in 1815; but no information has been preserved relative to the number of copies, and 
the translation appears subsequently to have been dropped. 

SHEKAWUTTY. 

The little province of Shekawutty lies south of Delhi, about the 28th degree of north latitude, 
and extends about 80 miles from north to south, and rather less from east to west. The Serampore 
translators have furnished neither specimen nor description of this dialect, and no attempt to translate 
any portion of the Scriptures appears to have been made. 

BIKANEERA. 

The Rajpoot state of Bikaneer lies north of Marwar, and is situated chiefly between the 27th and 
30th degrees of north latitude; its area is stated at 17,676 square miles, and its population at 539,250. 
The Lord's Prayer, as given in the dialect of Bikaneer, contains twenty-nine words which may be 
identified with those in the Hinduwee and Bengalee specimens, with some others more directly from 
the Sanscrit. A Bikaneera version of the New Testament was commenced in 1813, and an edition 
of 1000 copies was printed at Serampore in 1823. Concerning the purity of this version, several 
satisfactory testimonies have been afforded by natives. Like other versions in Hinduwee dialects, 
it had been printed in Devanagari characters, and it was not discovered till too late that these char- 
acters are used only by the Jains in Bikaneer: the majority of the people employ, it is supposed, some 
corrupted or cursive form of Devanagari. 

BUTTANEER, OR VIRAT. 

Buttaneer,. the country of the Bhatties, is situated in the north-eastern quarter of the Raj- 
pootana or Ajmere territory, about the 30th degree of north latitude; and between the meridians of 73° 
and 76° east. Its outline, which is very irregular, encloses an area of 3,017 square miles. If Buttaneer 
is to be classed among the number of Hinduwee dialects, it is probably extremely corrupted with 
words from the Persic and Arabic, for Mohammedanism is the religion of the Bhatties. In 1821 
a Buttaneer New Testament was commenced at Serampore, and an edition of 1000 copies was printed 
in 1824. We have the testimony of a native as to the intelligibility of this version, but no details 
relative to its circulation have been furnished. 



Class III.] BENGALEE. 109 



BENGALEE. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION, see Plate 5, page 141. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Bengal, or Bangala, the richest and most important province of India, lies between 21 and 27 
degrees north latitude, and is bounded north by Nepaul and Bootan, south by the Bay of Bengal, 
east by Assam and the Burmese territories, and west by Bahar and Orissa. It extends 350 miles in 
length, and its average breadth is 300 miles, enclosing an area of nearly 100,000 square miles; while 
the population in round numbers, may be conjectured to amount to nearly 30,000,000. The Persian 
and Hindustani are spoken to some extent in Bengal, but the predominant dialect is unquestionably 
the Bengalee. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Among the Indian daughters of the Sanscrit, none, except the Pali, approach so nearly the parent 
stock as the Bengalee. Yet it is rather a singular circumstance that the derivative languages, which 
have arisen in India itself from the very tomb of the Sanscrit, exhibit in many respects less analogy 
to that ancient language than its sister languages in Europe. The Bengalee, for instance, in several 
of its grammatical inflections, has departed further from the original Sanscrit type than the Greek and 
some of the Germanic languages; and even in its lexicon we meet with the mutilated and corrupted 
fragments of Sanscrit words, of which the correlatives have been preserved in a far purer state in the 
languages of Europe. In attempting to account for this phenomenon, Bopp remarks that, in warm 
regions, when languages have once burst the old grammatical chain, they in general hasten to their 
downfall with a more rapid step than under our milder European clime. It must, however, be 
observed, that although Bengalee, in its simple and colloquial form, displays many deviations from the 
Sanscrit, yet that in proportion to the abstruseness of the subjects which it may be employed in dis- 
cussing, it rises in approximation to its parent; and that in all dignified compositions it borrows 
freely from it grammatical forms, words, and idioms. 

The system of inflection in Bengalee is inartificial, and easily acquired. Nouns have in this 
dialect seven cases, discriminated by differences of termination. The intricacies of gender which 
encumber the Hindustani are unknown in Bengalee ; for in this latter dialect the threefold distinction 
of gender into masculine, feminine, and neuter, is used with respect to animate and inanimate objects 
in the same way as in our own language. The two numbers (singular and plural) apply in Bengalee 
only to masculine and feminine nouns. Neuter nouns cannot receive a plural termination; but a 
numeral, or some word expressive of quantity, is added to indicate plurality. Adjectives have no 
distinction of number or case, and the gender of feminine adjectives only can be denoted by the ter- 
mination, masculine and neuter adjectives being entirely uninflected, as in English. Pronouns do not 
admit of the distinction of gender; and in translating from Bengalee into other languages, the context 
alone can determine whether the pronoun ought to be rendered he, she, it, or that. In Bengalee, as 
in other Indian dialects, there are two kinds of personal pronouns, the honorific and the familiar. 
The habit, says Mr. Haughton, of self-abasement before a superior, and the assumption of self-impor- 
tance in speaking to an inferior, have established this use of two personal pronouns; and in accordance 
with this custom, there are likewise two sorts of terminations appended to verbs, the one conveying a 
respectful, and the other a contemptuous meaning. There is but one conjugation of verbs in Bengalee, 
and it is remarkably simple and regular. Many of the tenses are formed by the aid of auxiliaries, and 
there are in all but three irregular verbs. The Bengalee style of writing is merely a cursive method 



110 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Cj,ass III. 

of forming the Devanagari characters, adopted for the sake of ease and expedition. In style and 
grammar, the Bengalee may be said to bear to the Sanscrit the same relation as the Italian does to 
the Latin. 

III.— VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. 

The commencement of the first Bengalee version of Scripture may be dated from the year 1793, 
when Dr. Carey and his coadjutors quitted England to enter upon their labours in India. During the 
voyage, Mr. Thomas, a surgeon of Bengal, who was returning thither in company with the missionaries, 
employed himself in translating part of the book of Genesis into Bengalee. The other portions of 
Scripture translated by Mr. Thomas were the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, part of St. Luke, 
and the Epistle of St. James ; but these versions were executed very incorrectly ; and when Dr. Carey, 
a twelvemonth after his arrival in India, had mastered the language, and addressed himself to the 
work of translation, he found the MSS. prepared by Mr. Thomas of little or no assistance. Dr. Carey 
executed his version of the New Testament immediately from the Greek text; he made great use of 
Doddridge's Family Expositor in the translation. After seven years' severe labour and study, he 
completed and published the New Testament at Serampore in 1801. The edition consisted of 2000 
copies of the Testament, besides 500 copies of the Gospel of St. Matthew, which had been struck off 
the preceding year for immediate distribution. A testimony as to the estimation in which this version 
was held was speedily afforded by the appointment of Dr. Carey to the Professorship of the Bengalee, 
Sanscrit, and Mahratta languages in the College of Fort William, then recently established. This 
truly providential circumstance greatly augmented his means of usefulness as a translator of the Scrip- 
tures ; for learned natives crowded from all parts of India to the College for literary employment, and 
through their instrumentality, Dr. Carey saw all the learning and almost all the languages of India 
placed within his reach. 

An edition of the Bengalee Old Testament, consisting of 1000 copies, was carried through the 
press in successive portions, between the years 1802 and 1809. Mr. Fountain, one of the Serampore 
missionaries, assisted in the preparation of the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st and 2nd of Kings, 
and the 2nd of Chronicles ; the remaining books were translated by Dr. Carey, but whether he had 
recourse to the English version, or executed the work direct from the original, we are not informed. 
In 1806 a second edition of the New Testament, consisting of 1500 copies, was printed. The sheets 
were previously subjected to the most careful revision; every proof was critically examined and compared 
with the Greek by Dr. Carey and Dr. Marshman; and their increased familiarity with the language 
enabled them to make several important alterations in the idioms and phraseology. This edition was 
followed by large issues of various portions of the Scriptures, printed for separate distribution; and in 
1811 a third edition of the New Testament was published in folio, which being designed for the 
purposes of public worship in native congregations, consisted only of 100 copies. The progress of the 
next edition was interrupted by the fire which occurred in the printing office at Serampore in 1812 ; but 
by the zeal of friends and the energy of the missionaries, new types and printing materials were quickly 
procured, and in the following year the second edition of the Pentateuch, to the extent of 1000 copies, 
was published. A fourth and revised edition of the New Testament, consisting of 5000 copies, 
appeared in 1816: the increased desire manifested by the natives for copies of the Scriptures in 
Bengalee, led to the publication of several large editions of the New Testament and of various portions 
of Scripture which appeared in successive years; and in 1832, the eighth edition of the New Testament, 
carefully revised and corrected, was committed to the press. It is rather remarkable that the labours 
of Dr. Carey as a translator commenced with the Bengalee New Testament, and closed, after the long 
interval of forty years, with its revision. He completed his last edition of this Testament but a 
very short period before his death; and in allusion to its completion, he remarked at the time to 
his friends, that "his work was done, and that he had nothing more to do than to wait the will of 
his Lord." 



Class III.] BENGALEE. Ill 

Another version of the Bengalee New Testament was undertaken by Mr. Ellerton of the Church 
Missionary Society, who had long been stationed at Malda, near the ruins of the ancient Gaur. His 
first production was a version of the Gospel of St. John, which was printed at the expense of the 
Countess of Loudon, principally for the use of a school which she had established at Barrackpore. 
This version obtained so many strong testimonials in its favour, that the Calcutta Bible Society caused 
an edition of 2000 copies of the Gospels to be printed in 1817; and in the following year, an edition 
of the entire Testament, translated by. Mr. Ellerton, and consisting of 2000 copies, was issued by the 
same society, together with a large impression of the Gospels, which were distributed singly to the 
amount of seven or eight thousand copies. In 1818 the Baptist missionaries settled at Calcutta pub- 
lished for the same society an edition of 5000 copies of Mr. Ellerton's version of the Gospel of St. John, 
with the English on the opposite pages. In 1823 the Calcutta Committee printed another large 
edition of Mr. Ellerton's version of the Gospels and Acts, chiefly for the use of the schools established 
by the missionary societies throughout Bengal; and as this edition was speedily exhausted, another 
edition of the same extent of 4000 copies was put to press in 1829. While this edition was in the 
course of publication, the attention of the Calcutta Committee was drawn to the great improvements 
which had been made in the Serampore version of the Bengalee New Testament by the critical 
revisions to which each successive edition had been subjected; and on a careful examination of 
Mr. Ellerton's version, it was determined by the committee either to subject it to a very minute and 
accurate revision, or to substitute some other version in its place. This led to the important measure 
of endeavouring to obtain what might be accounted a standard version of the Scriptures in Bengalee. 
With this view, a sub-committee was formed in 1830, composed of the best scholars of the different 
denominations of Christians friendly to the Bible Society in Bengal. They were appointed to execute 
a version of the entire Scriptures, and agreed to submit their labours to the suggestions of other dis- 
tinguished scholars. They began with the book of Genesis, and published it in 1833; the account 
which they gave as to their mode of procedure was as follows: — "We have," they said, "paid par- 
ticular regard to the connective links of the history, and we have throughout consulted the Hebrew 
original, and the best authorities on Scripture criticism: as to the language employed, we have been 
careful in selecting pure Bengalee words only, such as derive their origin from the Sanscrit, avoiding 
all Hindustani vocables, and all low expressions." As farther supplies of the New Testament were 
imperatively requisite to meet the immediate wants of the people, another edition of 4000 copies of 
the Gospels and Acts of Mr. Ellerton's version was printed in 1831; and in 1835, as the revision of 
the New Testament by the sub-committee had not been accomplished, the Calcutta Society was autho- 
rised by the Parent Society to print an edition of 5000 copies of Mr. Ellerton's version as a temporary 
supply. Some amendments had been made in the version by the Eev. Mr. Keichardt, which were in 
part adopted by a sub-committee appointed to conduct this edition through the press. 

A third version of the Bengalee Scriptures has been executed by Dr. Yates, a Baptist missionary, 
whom we have before mentioned as a translator of the Scriptures into Sanscrit. The first portion of 
Dr. Yates's Bengalee version that was committed to the press appears to have been the Psalter, pub- 
lished by the Calcutta Society in 1827. The part of the Bengalee Bible containing the Psalms had 
been out of print for more than eight years, although repeated applications had been made for it. On 
publishing this new translation of the Psalms, the Calcutta Committee presented every native Christian, 
in full communion with a church of any denomination, with a copy, not only because most of them 
were too poor to purchase, but principally as a token of brotherly affection, and of concern for their 
spiritual prosperity. It was hoped by the committee that this proceeding would " contribute in some 
measure to the promotion of that love and union between Christians of different nations and com- 
munions, which our common Lord and Saviour so earnestly implored in his mediatorial prayer 
(John xvii.); and which will, doubtless, be one of the principal means of convincing the world that 
the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of men." 

The first edition of Dr. Yates's New Testament appears to have been published in 1833. In the 



112 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

preparation of this version lie derived much assistance from his friend and colleague, Mr. Pearce, who 
had a very accurate acquaintance with the Bengalee language, and also with the Greek original, from 
Avhich the translation was made. Dr. Yates remarks concerning him, that " he had the eye of a 
Christian, a critic, and a printer." This version was pronounced by competent judges "an able and 
excellent translation;" and as the Baptist missionaries liberally permitted the Bible Society to use 
their versions with alterations for the word baptism (they being considered in no way parties to such 
alterations), the Calcutta Committee undertook in 1836 to publish an edition of 5000 copies of the 
entire Testament. This edition of Dr. Yates's version was completed at the expense of the Parent 
Society in 1837. Other editions of the same version appear to have been printed, from time to time, 
by the Baptist missionaries. In 1840 a fourth, and very beautiful, edition was issued by them, and 
in 1844 it underwent an entire and very severe revision; and references and marginal readings were 
added. An edition of the Bengalee New Testament in Koman letters was published in London by 
the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1839: the text adopted was that of Dr. Yates. In the 
translation of the Old Testament, Dr. Yates was aided by the British and Foreign Bible Society : the 
sum of £400 was voted in 1836 in aid of the version, and farther assistance was promised. The 
version was completed in 1844 : the translation of the entire Bible had occupied Dr. Yates during the 
space of five years, and five more were employed in printing it. 

With the exception of a version of the book of Proverbs by the Rev. W. Morton, of which an 
edition of 5000 copies was printed by the Calcutta Society in 1842, no other translation of any portion 
of the Scriptures into Bengalee seems to have been made in addition to the above mentioned versions 
until 1845, when a new version of the entire Bengalee New Testament, prepared by Dr. Hasberlin, 
was offered to the Calcutta Society: 250 copies of the Gospel according to St. Mark, and the same 
number of the Epistle to the Ephesians, have since been printed as specimens of Dr. Hseberlin's version, 
in order that its value may be tested. 

In 1845 an inquiry was instituted by the Calcutta Society respecting the state of the Bengalee 
versions, and the practicability of obtaining a version which they might consider their own. A 
circular letter was addressed to the various missionaries in Bengal for their advice and help. From the 
answers received, it appeared that " none of the existing versions, in their present state, fully answered 
the actual wants of the country; and that either an entirely new version, or a revised and improved 
edition of some one or other of the existing versions, was absolutely required." As it had, however, 
been long acknowledged that the version by Dr. Yates possessed the principal characteristics deemed 
requisite in a standard version, the Calcutta Society determined to reprint his New Testament, and an 
edition of 2500 copies was published in 1847, under the care of the Rev. J. Paterson, of the London 
Missionary Society. During the same year the Society likewise printed 5000 copies of Genesis, with 
the first twenty chapters of Exodus, from Dr. Yates's version. About the same time 1000 copies of 
the Prophecies of Isaiah were printed by Mr. L. Mendes at his own expense, the Society supplying the 
paper: this work was carried through the press by the Rev. Dr. Duff, and the Rev. A. F. Lacroix. 

Another edition of 4000 copies of Dr. Yates's version of the New Testament was published by the 
Baptist missionaries in 1846: there were also printed for separate distribution, 15,000 copies of each 
of the Four Gospels, besides other separate portions of Scripture. A revision of Dr. Yates's version 
of the New Testament has since been accomplished, for the Baptist Missionary Society, by the 
Rev. J. Wenger, assisted by Mr. Lewis; and editions of this revised version, in 8vo. and other forms, 
have been published. Several editions of the same revised version have also been printed, with the 
permission of the Baptist missionaries, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. A 
new edition of Dr. Yates's translation of the Old Testament, similarly revised by Mr. Wenger, has made 
considerable progress towards completion. Meanwhile, a further edition of 2500 New Testaments was 
completed in 1859, together with 10,000 copies of Genesis, and twenty chapters of Exodus. 

As it was deemed desirable to prepare a special edition of portions of Scripture for the use 
of that large section of the Mussulman population of Bengal who, while they read the Bengalee 



Class III.] BENGALEE. 113 

character, speak a dialect of the Bengalee language which is largely mingled with Persian and other 
foreign terms, the Gospels of St. Luke and St. John in Mussulman-Bengalee, together with Genesis, 
twenty chapters of Exodus, and Isaiah, have been issued from the Calcutta press at the expense of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society. The Gospel of St. Luke, the first issued of the Mussulman-Bengalee 
versions, was prepared under the care of the Kev. J. Paterson; the others have issued under the revision 
of the Eev. S. J. Hill, on the lamented decease of the former. 

MUSSULMAN-BENGALEE— St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 7. 

\ * * ■ • \ 

*taTl 5$^ ^3Tt?T *faTl 5$^T C^ ^ fo^i vot^l ^C<R wtat^ ^ fovSi fv3 
\ \ \ \ \ 

^t$t?r ©fa^rl <rm?r *t^?l ss Ttt i 4 crgRUffa ^t^ts wtatc^ ff *t. ^rr?r 
wt cvgRcrrft ^?rtre?r ^rc ff ^t i 5 A =nr ^rrc^ju^ ^rrcs?r st^r, c^rf^r 
ssrrcwl ^ttrc^r Tfta^ ?H?ft =t1 i 6 ^fwi TOosrffil <s& ' K \n'*t C5tt?r?r 

3mPcEvo *rc c^rf^ t^t^r \5tR <n$ w* 4 crttfas Tfwr ct ^ttisatfis f?cs5 

The propriety of rendering the Scriptures into a mixed dialect such as the Mussulman-Bengalee 
undoubtedly is, has been called in question, and it has been determined not to proceed with the work 
beyond the two remaining Gospels. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 

Examples might easily be multiplied of the blessed effects which at various periods have resulted 
from the study of the Bengalee Scriptures ; but let the following facts, related by Dr. Marshman in 
illustration of the subject, suffice. About the year 1818, a number of persons were found inhabiting 
certain villages near Dacca, who had forsaken idolatry, and who constantly refused to Brahmins the 
usual honours paid to them beyond the other classes of the community. They were also said to be 
remarkable for the correctness of their conduct, and particularly for their adherence to truth. They 
were occasionally visited by several Christian brethren, both native and European, and were said to 
be scattered through ten or twelve villages. They were, however, the followers of no particular 
leader, as is the case with many sects among the Hindoos; but from their professing to be in search 
of a true gooroo, or teacher, they were termed sutya-gooroos. Some native Christians being exceedingly 
desirous of knowing whence they have derived all their ideas, were at length told that they had imbibed 
them from a book which was carefully preserved in one of their villages. On arriving at this village, 
they were shown a book much worn, kept in a case; the book was stated to have been there 
many years, although none of those present could say from whence it came. On examination this 
book was found to be a copy of the first edition of the Bengalee New Testament, printed at Serampore 
in 1800. After this, numbers of these sutya-gooroos went to Dacca, and conversed with the native 
brethren there concerning many subjects mentioned in the New Testament. This ended in three of 
them being baptised on a profession of faith in Christ, and they afterwards returned to their own 
villages. Krishnoo, a native Christian (who had also been converted by means of the perusal of the 
Bengalee version, and who had been baptized in 1800) went among them shortly afterwards, and 

9 



114 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Glass III. 

found in their possession a copy of the second edition of the Bengalee New Testament, which they 
prized very highly, although they had not, as a body, made an open profession of Christianity. Other 
similar instances of the effects resulting under the blessing of God from the distribution of this version 
will be seen by reference to the Reports of the Church and London Missionary Societies; but the best 
evidence of the satisfactory result of this dissemination of the Bengalee Scriptures is exhibited in the 
numerous congregations and schools that have risen in every part of the Bengal presidency, and to the 
beneficial effects of which even so stupendous an event as the mutiny of 1857-8, has only constituted 
a temporary interruption. 



BENGALEE DIALECTS. 

MAGADHA, OE MAGUDHA. 

Magadha is spoken in the province of South Bahar, which comprises an area of 32,982 square miles, 
and a population of 4,758,150. South Bahar is now included in the presidency of Bengal, but it was 
anciently the seat of an independent sovereignty. Gaya, a town in this province, is said to have been 
the birthplace of Buddha, the great prophet and legislator of Eastern Asia. From this and other 
circumstances it was once currently believed, though without sufficient data, that the dialect now 
spoken in South Bahar is identical with Pali, the sacred language of Buddhism. But, whatever may 
be the diversity of opinion concerning the origin of the Magadha dialect, it is now generally admitted 
that, in its present state, it can only be regarded as a gross corruption of the Bengalee. According 
to Mr. Colebrooke's representation, it appears to be more corrupt than any of the other Indian dialects; 
but, perhaps, this may partly arise from the large proportion of Mohammedans found in this province, 
speaking another language, and using a different character, and who are said to form at least one third 
of the entire population. A version of the New Testament in Magadha was commenced at Serampore 
in 1814, and in 1824 an edition of 1000 copies left the press. More recently, some portions of the 
Gospels have been translated by the Rev. E. Start of Patna; but it appears that his version is still 
unfinished and in manuscript: he is of opinion that it is through the Magadha alone that " access can 
be had to one million of Hindoos who now live in the birthplace of Buddhism." Other missionaries, 
however, have stated that it is questionable whether any version of the Scriptures except the Bengalee 
is strictly requisite in South Bahar. 

TIRHITIYA, OR MITHILI. 

The Sircar of Tirhut, or Tirhoot, sometimes called Mithili, and sometimes North Bahar, is 
separated from South Bahar by the River Ganges, and lies between the 25th and 27th degrees of 
north latitude, and the meridians of 84° and 88° east. It includes an area of 7,402 square miles, and 
a population of 2,400,000. The Tirhitiya dialect never appears to have been at any period in 
extensive use, or to have been much employed in literary compositions. In its present form it greatly 
resembles the Bengalee, and its written characters differ but little from those used in writing Bengalee. 
In the Lord's Prayer, as given in this dialect by the Serampore missionaries, may be traced twenty 
words radically the same as those in the Bengalee and Hinduwee specimens; but some of the words 
are more purely Sanscrit. A version of the Scriptures in this dialect was projected at Serampore, but 
apparently never carried into execution. It is now conjectured that the Bengalee version is likely to 
answer all the purposes of a separate translation in Tirhitiya. 



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SPECIMEN OF THE ASSAMESE VERSION. 

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Class III.] ASSAMESE. 115 

ASSAMESE. 

FOR SPECIMEN OE THE ASSAMESE VERSION, see Plate 10, page 115. 
I. GEOGRAPHICAL, EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Assam was one of the provinces ceded to the British in 1826 by the Burmese, and now forms part 
of the eastern frontier of our Indian possessions. It is included in the valley of the Brahmaputra, and 
extends from the north-east corner of the province of Bengal, about longitude 91 degrees east, in an 
easterly direction, to an extent not yet very clearly defined; but it is probable that from about the 
96th degree of east longitude, the territory is inhabited by several independent tribes, who occupy 
the intervening space from thence to the province of Yun-nan in China, and who speak dialects 
belonging to the monosyllabic stock. According to the parliamentary returns of 1851, the population 
of Assam numbers 710,000. They are chiefly Hindoos, and Brahminism has been the general religion 
of the people since the seventeenth century, yet many among them profess Mohammedanism. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The original language of the Assamese nation was the Ahom, a branch of the Siamese family of 
languages. The Ahom appears to have been formerly vernacular on the borders of China, whence 
these people are said to have emigrated prior to their settlement in Assam. On their adoption of the 
religion of Bengal, in the middle of the seventeenth century, they also gradually habituated them- 
selves to the use of its language, till at length the ancient Ahom tongue became extinct. The language 
now spoken in Assam has, during the lapse of years, contracted several peculiarities of its own, 
distinguishing it from the Bengalee. The Serampore missionaries diligently compared it with the 
Bengalee, and found that though the two dialects still correspond with each other exactly, so far as 
words are concerned, yet that the inflections of nouns and verbs differ so greatly, that the natives of 
the two countries are unintelligible to each other. The letters of the Assamese dialect have in general 
the same name and power as the Bengalee, but several of the characters vary a little in form ; and 
though these variations are but trifling, yet in printing the Scriptures it was found impracticable to 
use the Bengalee types, and the missionaries were obliged to cast a new fount of types for the purpose. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. 

A translation of the Scriptures into Assamese was commenced at Serampore in 1811, and com- 
pleted in 1815, when the first two Gospels were printed. The whole New Testament was finished at 
press in 1819, the edition consisting of a thousand copies: the British and Foreign Bible Society aided 
the publication by the grant of £500. In 1822, one thousand copies of the Pentateuch left the press; 
arid the printing of the entire Old Testament was subsequently completed. The American Baptist 
Missionary Society has three stations in this province, and Mr. Nathan Brown, one of their agents, 
has been for some years occupied in the task of preparing another translation of the New Testament 
into Assamese. We are not in possession of any recent information respecting the progress of this version. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

Comparatively few details have been received in Europe concerning the progress of the Gospel in 
this province, or the results that may have followed the Christian efforts of the American Baptist 
Missionaries, the only labourers employed on this field. These missionaries, however, have stated 
" that the truth appears to be slowly and surely working its way in Assam; that the people are eager 
to receive books ; and that a number of interesting young men do not hesitate to denounce Hindooism 
as false, and to acknowledge the Scriptures as true." 



116 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

URIYA, OH ORISSA. 

FOR SPECIMEN OF THE URIYA, OR ORISSA VERSION, see Plate 3, page 91. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Uriya is the vernacular dialect of Orissa. a narrow strip of country stretching along the shores 
of the Bay of Bengal, from the provinces of Bengal and Bahar on the north to the Carnatic on 
the south; it has an average hreadth of about seventy miles inland, where it borders upon Gundwana, 
and comprises (according to the parliamentary returns) an area of 52,995 square miles. The population 
(which comprehends, besides Uriyas, people of three other races, the supposed aborigines of the province) 
is estimated at 4,534,800. It is stated that from three to four millions of people are conversant with 
the Uriya dialect. Orissa has been under foreign sway since the year 1558, when it was conquered by 
the Aflghans. In 1578 it was annexed to the Mogul empire; in 1756 it was transferred to the Mahrattas; 
and since 1803-4 it has formed a part of the Bengal presidency. The national religion of Orissa is 
Brahminism, and the celebrated temple and town of Juggernaut are situated in this province. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS DIALECT. 

Uriya is a tolerably pure dialect of the Sanscrit, but possesses some Persian and Arabic terms, bor- 
rowed through the medium of the Hindustani, with others of doubtful origin. It is closely connected 
with Bengalee, nine tenths of the same words being in use in both dialects: the pronunciation, however, 
differs greatly ; for an effeminate style of articulation is prevalent in Bengal, while the inhabitants of 
Orissa have a broad and almost a rustic accent. The Uriya has a written character peculiar to itself, 
but evidently derived from the Devanagari ; and the Brahmins of this province use the Uriya character 
in writing Sanscrit. The deviations of this character from the Devanagari have been ascribed to the 
practice of writing on palm leaves with an iron style, or on paper with a pen cut from a porcupine's quill. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. 

The first version of the Scriptures in this dialect was commenced by the Serampore missionaries 
in 1803. The native pundit employed in preparing the rough draft of the translation was almost as 
well acquainted with the Bengalee as with his own dialect, and therefore translated from the Bengalee 
version; his work, according to the method pursued in other versions, was afterwards compared verse 
by verse with the original text, and corrected by the missionaries. An edition consisting of 1000 
copies of the New Testament was printed in 1811. The first edition of the Old Testament, which 
also consisted of 1000 copies, was finished at press in 1819. So great was the demand for this version 
that, in 1820, the first edition of the New Testament was exhausted, and an edition consisting of 4000 
copies, was put to press, and completed in 1822. The publication of this large edition was simultaneous 
with the establishment of a mission by the General Baptist Society at Cuttack, the capital of Orissa. 
In 1832 a second edition of the Old Testament was passing through the press; and likewise a large 
separate edition of the Psalms. In 1838, in consequence of inquiries that had been instituted relative 
to the particular versions of Scripture chiefly required in India, the Rev. Messrs. Sutton and Noyes 
were requested by the sub-committee of translations at Calcutta to prepare a new version of the 
Scriptures in Uriya. Dr. Sutton commenced with the Book of Genesis, and when the translation was 
completed, he carried on both the printing and binding at Cuttack, where he was stationed. An 
edition of the Old Testament was accomplished by him for the Bible Society in 1844; the edition 
consisted of 2000 copies of the New Testament, and 3000 separate copies of the books of Genesis, 
Psalms, and Proverbs. An edition of 2000 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke, from Dr. Sutton's version, 
has subsequently (in 1854) issued from the Cuttack press, at the instance of the Bible Society. 



Class III.] SINDHEE. 117 

CUTCHEE, OR CATCHEE. 

EOH SPECIMEN OE THE CUTCHEE, OR CATCHEE, see Plate 4, page 133. 

Cutch, a small state of North-western Hindoostan, lies between latitude 22° 45' and 23° 45' north. 
The Runn, a salt morass of immense extent, divides it from Sinde, Rajpootana, and Gujerat. The 
greatest extent of Cutch from east to west is 165 miles, and its average breadth is 45 miles. The land 
is in general poor and indifferently cultivated, and the number of inhabitants scarcely exceeds half a 
million. Brahminism and Mohammedanism prevail in about equal proportions. Cutch is subsidiary 
to the British; the government is in the hands of the Jarejahs, a race of Sindian origin. Very little is 
known respecting the Cutchee dialect, but it is supposed to be intimately connected with the Sindhee. 
A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew into Cutchee was executed by the late Rev. James 
Gray, one of the chaplains at Bombay; and in 1835 a small edition, consisting of 500 copies, was 
printed. This edition was, however, found to be of little or no service, from the circumstance of its 
being issued in the Balboreh character, with which the people of Cutch are unacquainted. In 1843, 
the attention of the Bombay Auxiliary Bible Society was directed to the duty of disseminating the 
Scriptures in the counti'ies on each side of the Indus, which had, through recent political events, 
become accessible to missionary efforts. It was determined by the Society to print an edition of 
Mr. Gray's version of St. Matthew in Gujerattee characters, which are commonly employed in Cutch. 
It was anticipated that this edition would be useful in Sinde, particularly in the parts of Sinde 
bordering upon Cutch, as well as in Cutch itself. Arrangements have subsequently been made for 
executing a version of the entire New Testament: this work is in progress, and some portions of it 
have been already printed. 



SINDHEE. 

SlNDE is an extensive country of Western India, and apparently derives its name from the river 
Sindu, or Indus, by which it is traversed. It lies between 23 and 29 degrees of north latitude, and 
67 and 71 degrees of east longitude. It was governed by military chieftains called Ameers : but since 
the year 1839, has been classed among the states subject to Britain, and is now attached to the Bombay 
presidency. The inhabitants are a mixed race, chiefly Hindoos, Juts, and Beloochees, and numbered 
1,087,700 at the date of the last census. Mohammedanism is perhaps the predominant religion, though 
many of the people are followers of Brahminism. # 

The Sindhee dialect has a written character peculiar to itself; otherwise it merely differs in spell- 
ing and inflection from the pure Hinduwee of Upper India; and indeed it is by some regarded as the 
elder dialect of the two, because it is more elaborate and regular in the inflection of nouns and verbs. 

The Serampore missionaries had commenced a translation of the Scriptures into this dialect as 
early as 1815; but various circumstances impeded the progress of the work, and it was not till 1825 
that the first part of the version, consisting of the Gospel of St. Matthew, was committed to the pre.'s. 
We are not informed of how many copies this edition consisted, and it does not appear that any other 
portion of this version was afterwards published. A translation of the same Gospel into Sindhee has 
been recently made by Captain G. Stack, and an edition of 500 copies printed by the Bombay Auxiliary 
of the British and Foreign Bible Society. An edition of 580 copies of St. John's Gospel, issued from 
the same source in 1859, having been executed under the care of the Rev. A. Burn, of Kurrachee: 280 
copies of this edition were printed in the Arabic character, and 300 copies in the Gurmukhi. 



118 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass III. 



MOULTAN, OR WUCH. 

FOR SPECIMEN OF THE MOULTAN OR WUCH VERSION, see Plate 11, page 337. 

The district of Moultan, in which this dialect is vernacular, is enclosed by the rivers Indus, Chenab, 
and Gharra; it has the Punjab on the north, Sinde on the west and south, and the Sandy Desert on 
the east. Although Moultan was formerly an extensive territory, yet owing to political changes it 
does not now exceed 110 miles in length, by 70 in breadth. The amount of population is uncertain, 
but does not probably exceed three or four hundred thousand. Brahminism and Mohammedanism 
are the two predominant religions. 

The dialect is called Wuch, or Ooch, from a town of that name in the southern extremity of 
Moultan. It differs little from the Sindhee, and the character in which it is written is nearly the same 
as that used in writing Sindhee. A translation of the Scriptures into this dialect was commenced at 
Serampore in 1812, and 1000 copies of the New Testament were printed in 1819. But as no mis- 
sionary station had been established at Moultan before the year 1856, it is not probable that this 
edition has obtained much circulation. The Serampore missionaries afterwards saw their error in 
providing translations of the Scriptures for countries where there were no missionaries to undertake 
the distribution, and they accordingly gave up their former intention of procuring a version of the 
Old Testament for Moultan, and dismissed the pundit whom they had employed in the translation of 
the New Testament. 



PUNJABEE, OR SIKH. 

The Punjab is an extensive country of North-west Hindoostan, situated chiefly between the 29th and 
34th degrees of north latitude, and the 70th and 77th degrees of east longitude. Before 1849, 
it constituted an independent state, but was in that year brought under British rule. The Punjab 
derives its name from two Persian words signifying five waters, in allusion to the five great streams, 
arms of the Indus, by which it is intersected. It was the scene of the last campaign of Alexander the 
Great. According to Thornton, the total area of the Punjab is 78,447 square English miles, and its 
population scarcely falls short of 7,000,000. Jats, Rajpoots, Hindoos of low caste, various hill tribes, 
and Mussulmans, constitute part of this population ; but the Sikhs, or disciples (as the name signifies in 
Sanscrit), are the dominant race. Burnes conjectured the Sikhs to number but 500,000 individuals: 
this, however, is a subject involved in much uncertainty. The Sikhs were originally Hindoos, and 
their incorporation as a sect, with the assumption of a distinctive appellation, dates from the close of the 
fifteenth, or beginning of the sixteenth, century. Their founder, Nanac, a native of the Punjab, 
was born in 1469: he professed a desire to reform, not to destroy, the Hindoo religion, and sought to 
reconcile the jarring faiths of Brahma and Mohammed, so as to unite the followers of each system into 
one body. The creed which he inculcated was one of pure deism, founded on the most sublime 
general truths, and breathing a spirit of peace and toleration ; yet his followers speedily lost sight of the 
purity of his doctrines, retaining only the remembrance of the Hindoo and Mohammedan fables which 
had found a place in his system. Guru Govind, the tenth guru or teacher in succession from Nanac, 
impressed a new character on the religion of his followers, by recognising the equality of all men, 



Class III.] PUNJABEE. 119 

thus finally abolishing the distinction of caste, and enforcing the bearing of arms as a religious duty 
incumbent on all. He was the founder of the temporal power of the Sikhs: he was killed A.D. 1708. 

I. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIALECT. 

The Sareswati, one of the dialects altered from the Sanscrit for colloquial purposes, and hence 
called Pracrit, or derived, appears to have been anciently the vernacular of the Punjab; but it under- 
went many alterations, owing to the invasions of the Mohammedans, and numerous foreign words 
were by degrees engrafted on it. The Punjabee or modern dialect of the Sikhs possesses many 
Persian and Arabic terms, yet it still retains clear traces of its Sanscrit origin, and exhibits a close 
resemblance to the Hinduwee. In the specimen of the Lord's Prayer in Punjabee, given by the 
Serampore missionaries, no less than thirty words were found nearly identical with the corresponding 
terms in the Hinduwee and Bengalee specimens. The Punjabee characters, though peculiar to that 
dialect, present comparatively few points of difference from the Devanagari, being the same in number, 
order, and power, though slightly varying in form. 

II. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. 

A version of the New Testament in Punjabee was commenced at Serampore in 1807, but the 
fount of types which had been prepared for printing it was one of those which were so unfortunately 
destroyed by fire. The loss, however, was speedily replaced, and in 1813 the Gospels and Acts were 
announced as finished. The entire New Testament, in an edition of 1000 copies, was completed in 
1815. In 1832 a second edition was undertaken. The translation of the Old Testament into Pun- 
jabee has only been partially accomplished. In 1820 an edition of the Pentateuch and Historical 
Books was issued, followed during the ensuing year by an edition of the Hagiographa ; and a small 
portion of the Prophetical Books was afterwards printed. But the pundit who assisted Dr. Carey in 
the preparation of this version was seized with a complaint which terminated in death ; and as no 
pundit could be met with capable of supplying his place, the work was entirely suspended. The 
translation had been conducted as far as the close of Ezekiel's Prophecy, at which point it still remains. 
Efforts are now being made to furnish the Sikhs with a new version of the Scriptures. The missionaries 
in the neighbourhood of the Punjab are at present employed in translating the New Testament, and 
it is the intention of the Agra Bible Society to appoint a regular sub-committee to superintend this 
important undertaking. Arrangements have lately been made by that society with the missionaries at 
Loodiana for the printing of 5000 copies of the Gospel of St. John in Punjabee. An edition of 5000 
copies of Genesis, and 20 chapters of Exodus, has also been completed, and is ready for circulation; 
and an edition of the Psalms in this language was (according to recent intelligence) about to be 
immediately put to press. But the progress of the Punjabee versions has been slow, owing to the 
difficulty of obtaining men qualified to conduct the work, and at the same time able to devote 
sufficient time to its accomplishment. An edition of 5000 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke has sub- 
sequently been completed (1857); and it is stated that the Gospel of St. Matthew was then about to be 
commenced. We are unaware to what extent the farther progress of this work may have suffered 
from the disasters which attended the mutiny of 1857. 

III. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

In the year 1820, five years after the completion of the Punjabee New Testament, the following 
account was given of the Sikhs and of the readiness they had manifested to receive the Scriptures: — 
" So strong has been the desire of this nation for the New Testament, that the whole edition is nearly 
distributed, and a second edition will probably be called for before the Old Testament is wholly pub- 
lished. Besides the Mughs, on the borders of Arracan, no one of the nations of India has discovered 
a stronger desire for the Scriptures than this hardy race; and the distribution of almost every copy 
has been accompanied with the pleasing hope of its being read and valued." About two years sub- 



120 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

sequently, the following statement was made by one of the missionaries to the translators: — "Of the 
faithfulness and utility of the Punjabee Scriptures, you have had abundant proof in the warm reception 
given to them, and in the spirit of inquiry raised in the minds of multitudes of the free and inde- 
pendent people using the Punjabee language. At Umritsar, at Lahore, at the fountain-head of the 
Sikh religion, the book of Jesus is spoken of, is -read, and has caused a considerable stir in the minds 
of the people." 



DOGURA, OR JUMBO 0. 

(MOUNTAIN PUNJABEE.) 

The Dogura, or Jumboo, dialect is spoken in the hilly country on the north of the Punjab, and 
east of the river Chenab and of Cashmere. Much confusion prevails in the accounts of the Seram- 
pore missionaries respecting the extent of territory in which this dialect is predominant; and the 
number of inhabitants to whom it is vernacular has never yet been ascertained. 

The Dogura dialect deviates in many respects from the Punjabee, and approximates pretty closely 
to the Cashmerian dialect. It has several permutations of letters and inflections peculiar to itself, but 
preserves indubitable indications of its Sanscrit origin. In the specimen of the Lord's Prayer in 
Dogura, given by the Serampore missionaries, twenty-five words were similar to those in the Hindu- 
wee and Bengalee specimens, while the remaining words were found to be more immediately connected 
with the Sanscrit. 

A version of the New Testament in Dogura was undertaken at Serampore in 1814; in 1820 the 
first three Gospels left the press, and in 1826 an edition of the entire New Testament, consisting of 
1000 copies, was completed. Opportunities for the circulation of the version seem to have been 
wholly wanting. In 1832 it was stated that a few copies had been given to some natives who had 
visited Calcutta, but no farther accounts have since been furnished relative to the distribution of this 
edition. 



CASHMERIAN. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THE CASHMERIAN VERSION, see Plate 4, page 133. 

CASHMERE Proper is an elevated and fertile tract, consisting of an extensive valley enclosed between 
very lofty mountains, situated in the extreme north-west of India. It is about 120 miles long by 70 
broad. In superficial extent it comprises 4500 square miles, being little less than four-fifths of the size 
of Yorkshire. The total amount of population does not now (1859) exceed 200,000, to which number 
it has, within a period of thirty years, been reduced from four times that amount, by the combined 
effects of earthquake, pestilence, and famine: the majority of the inhabitants are Mohammedans. 
After having been successively subject to the Mogul empire and to the Afighans, Cashmere fell in 
1819 under the dominion of the Sikhs, by whom it continued to be governed until the year 1846, 
when the successful campaigns of the British in the neighbouring province of the Punjab brought 



Class III.] NEPALESE. 121 

it under British control. It was erected, with some adjacent territory, into a separate state, nominally 
independent, but subject to the supervision of the Anglo-Indian government. The whole area of the 
state thus formed is estimated at 25,000 square miles, and the population at 750,000. 

The Cashmerian dialect is derived from the Sanscrit, and the written character resembles the 
Devanagari. The business of the government is transacted in Persian, and a number of Persian words 
have hence become engrafted on the Cashmerian dialect. The pronunciation of the Cashmerians is 
said to be remarkably broad, coarse, and uncouth. 

An edition of 1000 copies of the New Testament was printed at Serampore in 1820, after having 
been ten years in course of preparation. An edition of the Pentateuch was commenced in 1822; but 
as the types used in printing it were afterwards exchanged for smaller ones, the completion of the 
edition was retarded, and in 1832 the Old Testament had only been printed as far as the Second Book 
of Kings. It does not appear that any farther efforts have since been made to continue the work. 
Probably the version was eventually discovered to be comparatively useless, on account of there being 
no missionaries in Cashmere to undertake the distribution. 



NEPALESE, OR KHASPOORA. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 
S ^ TTW ^TT TzrftlT "3" ^TT ^Rf^TTT <«ffaT ^ jf*T §^PC *fftTT tft ^Ttft §m<*r TO *ft *HT ^^JsT %%t 

38 vm i 'snrc ^r I^t *rcrr ^*w«t ^T^nrt -g^fa^ 1 ^t *ffcrr ^ i ^nu sffa 'tftfrT 'anrr: st srfa 

m *rrfa f ifar -?!tt% -^ft i 'snnc twt^t^ ^rvRnrr wr^: *rftr ^ wn^r "3^rr^ tt^t *tc t i 

i s f^^far trarmiT ?n»? w?r ^t fsp srst^T ^m ^h i in *nf^ jjh<*k ^n^n far a-sngran f^m 

b *rrfer. ^nr far *rsr ^^far fayjw ir^ i in tstt^t in ■vfrn ?t itk 4>!*w \ $w j*6H\ *nf% ifonrfT^rpn i 

«. =10 ^r *if% -g^T^T ■sftvr far %t ^ftprnn ^rr^Err^r w% mfar$i^. ^ » ng i t t^ i in ^ftniwi ^t 

=tt ^nrc <?faTn ^^ffc tj^t w*tt ^ efaw ^ 3^ *n^ i^ i in w^n ^ftrarrc^rr to ^t^t ■? 

°^ 'smpn ^ftm^ ^«<?>i^ tt^ it ^ i tk wo^s "3*<?i$, ^hpt nsn 7^f c?n^ "3tt% f^arwi irrcr ?r*n 

^ ■5RT ^K^ f^^T ^H? 4UMMI TTRrn fWTCT 'hV i ^I $T^ far WT <<*ri^0<T TT irfel ^3SI% ^T Hlfatt 

<\s •grr ^r^r wr ^t ""iftxr i tr t^fa ^t ■srhn i ««k«h1 fir tr to^ nm ^nrc r^u ? *nrn^* 
*rtfar *»t^t itto wimm 'org jrt ^rt ^tw^rj irsir ^^wn«n ^to^t mCmn tNfim. jfiri? ^tb^ti 

Nepaul, one of the largest independent sovereignties of India, comprises a great portion of the 
southern declivity of the Himalaya chain, and lies between the 27th and 31st degrees of north 
latitude, and the 80th and 88th degrees of east longitude. It is bounded on three sides by the British 
territories, and on the north the lofty ridges of the Himalayas divide it from the table land of Tibet. 
Its superficial extent is 54,500 square miles, and its amount of population 2,000,000. Nepaul was 
formerly divided among numerous petty independent princes, but since the middle of the last century 



122 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

it has been united into one kingdom, under the sway of the Rajah of Goorkha, a small state situated 
north of Nepaul Proper. The aborigines of the country apparently belong to the Mongolian race, 
but great numbers of the present inhabitants are of Hindoo descent. Brahminism is the predominant 
religion, though Buddhism has still many votaries in Nepaul. 

Various dialects prevail in different parts of this extensive territory, but the principal of these is 
unquestionably the Nepalese or Khaspoora, which is exclusively used by the reigning family and by 
the higher castes. It is now continually becoming more and more prevalent throughout the whole 
country, and is rapidly superseding the dialects of the aboriginal tribes; but originally it was merely 
the vernacular of a Hindoo tribe, whom tradition represents as having sought refuge among the 
mountains of Nepaul during an invasion of the Mohammedans, about the fourteenth century of our 
era. These Hindoos are still distinguished by the name of Parabatiya, or Parabutties; and hence their 
dialect is frequently designated the Parbutti, or mountain Hinduwee. It has a very close affinity with 
j the pure Hinduwee of Upper India, yet at the same time has so much in common with the Tibetan, 
' that some writers have not hesitated to suggest the probability of its having been originally an inferior 
dialect of the latter language, compelled by the poverty of its structure to borrow largely from the 
Sanscrit. Several different alphabets are in use in Nepaul, all apparently based on the Devanagari. 

The only version of the Scriptures that had, until very recently, been attempted in this dialect, 
was commenced at Serampore in 1812; and an edition, consisting of 1000 copies of the New Testa- 
ment, was issued in 1821. A few copies were placed, soon after publication, in the hands of the 
Goorkhas, but as there are no missionaries stationed in Nepaul, opportunities for general distribution 
of this Testament in that country were not at that time found. Lately, however, a new translation 
of portions of the New Testament into the Nepalese dialect has been made by the Rev. W. Start, and 
an edition of 1000 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke, from this version, was printed by the Calcutta 
Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1850. An edition of 1500 copies of the Acts, 
also from Mr. Start's version, has since issued from the press. Many circumstances combine to render 
it highly probable that opportunities for the distribution of these versions may rapidly increase. 



PALP A. 

Palpa is a division of Northern Hindustan, subject to the Nepalese. It is situated below the Hima- 
layas, north of Oude and east of Kumaon. No accurate estimate appears to have been made of the 
amount of population to whom the Palpa dialect is vernacular, and little is known even respecting the 
distinctive peculiarities of the dialect itself; for although the Serampore missionaries have furnished 
a version of the New Testament in Palpa, they have given us no details illustrative of the structure 
of this dialect, or of its points of divergence from the other members of the Sanscrit stem. 

The Serampore version was commenced in 1817, and part of the Gospel of St. Matthew was 
printed in 1822; an edition of 1000 copies of the New Testament was completed before 1832. This 
work has hitherto been comparatively useless, for although a few copies have been presented to natives 
who have occasionally visited Calcutta, no opportunities for general distribution of the Scriptures in 
Palpa have yet occurred. 



Class III.] GUJERATTEE. 123 



KUM AON. 

Kumaon, a province now subject to Britain, comprises the whole tract of country between the 
Ganges and the Kalee, and includes a large portion of the principality of Gurwhal. On the north, its 
frontier line along the Himalayas extends from longitude 79° 15', latitude 31° 4', to longitude 80° 45', 
latitude 30° 10', giving a line of about a hundred English miles. The entire area of the province 
(inclusive of the British portion of Gurwhal) is perhaps not less than 10,000 square miles; but Kumaon, 
properly so called, lies between the Kalee, or Gogra, and the Bamgunga rivers, and does not exceed 
7000 square miles in area. Like other parts of Northern Hindustan, this territory is thinly populated; 
it is calculated, however, that about 6000 Brahmin families are settled in different parts of this province. 
The Kumaon dialect is closely allied to the Hinduwee. A version of the New Testament was 
commenced at Serampore in 1815, but appears to have been printed only as far as the Epistle to the 
Colossians. The death of the Kumaon pundit employed in the translation, about the year 1826, put 
a stop to its farther progress through the press. As there are no missionaries in Kumaon, and con- 
sequently no means of distributing the word of God in that province, the suspension of the under- 
taking is the less to be regretted. 



GURWHAL, OE SHREENAGUR. 

Gurwhal is situated chiefly between 30 and 31 degrees of north latitude, and between the meridians 
of 78° and 79° 20'. On the west it is limited by the upper course of the river Jumna, and on the north 
it reaches to the snowy summits of the Himalaya. The eastern portion of Gurwhal is now included 
within the British province of Kumaon: the western forms a native state under British protection. 
The latter has an area of 4500 square miles, and a population which is supposed not to exceed 100,000. 
The Gurwhal dialect has been little studied, but it is supposed to bear a considerable resemblance 
to the Hinduwee : it is sometimes called (from the name of the capital of Gurwhal) the Shreenagur 
dialect. A translation of the New Testament was undertaken at Serampore in 1816; the Gospel of 
St. Matthew was printed in 1820, and the entire New Testament at some period prior to 1832; but 
means for the circulation of this edition have hitherto been utterly wanting. 



GUJERATTEE. 

EOE, SPECIMEN OE THE GUJEEATTEE VEESION, see Plate 4, page 133. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT, AND STATISTICS. 

The Gujerattee dialect takes its name from Gujerat, the principal province in which it is spoken, and 
which lies on the western side of Hindustan, between 21 and 24 degrees of north latitude. Gujerattee 
is the prevailing dialect at Surat, and along the whole coast from Cambay to Damaun. It is said by 
the - Serampore missionaries to be the vernacular of a territory equal in point of extent to England. 



124 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

It lias been calculated that in this territory there are more than five millions of inhabitants ; but of 
these the Mohammedans form one-tenth part, and the number of Jains is not inconsiderable. Guje- 
rattee, as a language of trade and commerce, is extensively spoken beyond the limits above described ; 
and it has been appropriately designated, on account of its wide diffusion, " the grand mercantile 
language of foreign Indian marts." 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OP THIS DIALECT. 

Gujerattee is very closely allied to the Hinduwee, and its alphabet, though peculiar to itself, is 
evidently derived from the Devanagari. The grammatical principles offer few points of variation from 
those of the other Sanscrit dialects. The verbs maybe reduced to one conjugation, and strictly speaking 
there are no irregular verbs. The simple tenses are formed by means of terminations affixed to the 
root, which is always the second person singular of the imperative; and the other tenses are conjugated 
by the aid of auxiliaries. 

III. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. 

The Serampore missionaries were the first to undertake a Gujerattee version of the Scriptures. 
When commencing the study of this dialect, they remarked that the Gujerattee words which had 
become familiar to them through the medium of the Sanscrit, the Bengalee, and the Hinduwee, were 
in the proportion of about six in seven. In 1807 they commenced printing the Gospel of St. Matthew 
in the Devanagari character, but owing to pecuniary and other circumstances the work was afterwards 
given up. It was, however, resumed in 1813, and the printing of the work was commenced anew, 
Gujerattee characters being substituted for the Sanscrit, as more intelligible to the mass of the people. 
An edition of 1000 copies of the New Testament was completed in 1820. The prosecution of this 
version was, however, resigned about this period by the Serampore missionaries to the agents of the 
London Missionary Society stationed at Surat, and, from the proximity of this district to Bombay, it 
was deemed advisable that future editions should be published under the care of the Bombay Bible 
Society. Some steps had been taken by this Society towards the preparation of a Gujerattee version 
of the New Testament, several years before the publication of the Serampore version. Dr. John 
Taylor, who had originally been sent to Surat as agent of the London Missionary Society, and who 
afterwards accepted a medical appointment under the Bombay Government, offered his services in 1816 
to the Bombay Bible Society, to superintend the translation of any portion of the Scriptures into the 
Gujerattee and Mahratta dialects. His proposal was accepted by the society, and he was requested to 
commence with the Gospel of St. Matthew. He completed the translation of this Gospel in 1816, but 
he died soon afterwards; and although a sum of money was voted by the Calcutta Auxiliary Society 
in aid of the publication of this version, it does not appear that an edition of this Gospel was ever 
issued. The translation of the New Testament was then carried on by the Rev. Messrs Skinner and 
Fyvie, of the London Missionary Society. They were stationed at Surat in 1815, and such was their 
diligence in the study of the Gujerattee dialect, that in 1817 they had finished a translation both of 
the New Testament and of the Pentateuch, and had in part prepared it for the press. In 1821, 
assisted by the supply of Gujerattee types and by other grants from the Parent and Auxiliary Bible 
Societies, they printed an edition of 1000 copies of the New Testament. In this version they appear 
to have incorporated Dr. Taylor's translation of St. Matthew. Mr. Skinner died shortly after the pub- 
lication of the New Testament, but the translation of the Old Testament was prosecuted by Mr. Fyvie, 
and in 1823 an edition was carried through the press, printed with a view to wider distribution in 
separate portions, of which the average number of copies was 600. In 1825 a second and carefully 
revised edition of the Gospels was published by Mr. Fyvie, under the patronage of the Bombay Society, 
and by the aid of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Of this edition 1000 copies were given 
away in Surat, and 3000 in the interior of the country, in the space of little more than twelve months. 
An edition of the entire Scriptures was then commenced in larger types, and the New Testament was 



Class III.] GUJERATTEE. . 125 

finished at press in 1827. The second edition of the Old Testament was completed the following 
year: it consisted of 1000 copies of Genesis and the Psalter, and of 500 copies of the other books, 
and it is gratifying to know that half of this edition was circulated within a fortnight after its publi- 
cation. The demand increased so rapidly that it was found requisite to print forthwith another edition 
of the New Testament, to consist of 3000 copies. From the spring of 1830, the period at which this 
edition was commenced, to the day on which the printing of it was finished, Mr. Fyvie devoted his 
time to the revision and correction of the work. He compared every passage with the Greek, and 
consulted the best critical works on the original text, while at the same time he endeavoured to render 
the style more conformable to the Gujerattee idiom. This .edition left the press in 1832. In 1842 
another edition of the New Testament was undertaken, to consist of 6000 copies of the Gospels and 
Acts, and 3000 copies of the remaining portions : paper and other materials were transmitted by the 
Parent Society for the purpose. About the same period an edition was issued of 1000 copies of the 
Acts, printed in English and Gujerattee in alternate verses. 

Another version of the New Testament in Gujerattee has been executed by the Rev. Messrs. 
Clarkson and Flower, and an edition of 2000 copies has issued from the press. A separate edition of 
the New Testament in the Balborah, or Devanagari character, for the benefit of the better educated 
among the natives of Gujerat, and also for the people in the north of the province, had been in con- 
templation as long back as the year 1828, and according to late accounts it appears likely that this 
design will now be soon carried into execution. 

It was subsequently resolved, by the Bombay Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
to proceed immediately with an edition of the New Testament according to the old translation of the 
Surat edition, subject to such slight and necessary changes as the Reverends Hormusjee Pestonjee 
and Dunjeebhoy Nowrojee (at the time in Bombay, and who had undertaken to correct the press), in 
union with the Rev. Dr. Wilson, should approve of. This edition, consisting of 2000 copies, 
in 12mo., was completed at the Bombay press in 1853; and a subsequent edition of 6000 Gujerattee 
New Testaments, commemorative of the Bible Society's jubilee year, was issued three years later. 
Meanwhile, preparations for a revised edition of the entire Gujerattee Scriptures have been in active 
progress under the care of the Bombay Auxiliary Society, and an edition of the New Testament, 
according to this improved version, was completed at the mission-press in Surat in 1856. The revision 
and printing of the Old Testament have since been advancing, under the care of a committee appointed 
for the purpose. The work of translation is now (1860) nearly completed, and the printing has ad- 
vanced as far as the book of Job. Farther assistance towards supplying copies of the revised version 
of the Gujerattee New Testament, the necessity of which is urgently felt by the missionaries stationed 
in the province, has been liberally granted by the Parent Society. 

A polyglot edition of 500 copies of the Gospel of St. Matthew, in English, Sanscrit, Marathi, 
Gujerattee, and Hindustani, was completed at the Bombay press in 1852. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

The readiness with which the natives of Gujerat have received the Scriptures may be inferred 
from the repeated editions through which this version has passed. Mr. Fyvie, one of the translators, 
estimated the number of copies (in whole or in part) that had been distributed by the agency of the 
mission to which he is attached, during the first eight years after the publication of the New Testa- 
ment, at upwards of 50,000. The happy results of this distribution are thus described by the same 
gentleman: — " Much real good is doing among the people by the circulation of the Scriptures. Many 
begin to see the folly of idolatry, and are earnestly desirous of receiving Christian instruction. Some 
have openly renounced Hindooism, have professed attachment to the God of Israel, and have put on 
Christ by Christian baptism. The attention which these manifest to the Scriptures is truly delightful; 
and the readiness with which they can refer to circumstances and passages in the Bible is very 
interesting." 



126 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

MAHRATTA, OR MAEATHI. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

■r% <=» ii s miyff *t srer I^t i ^Tftir h sre; ^N^db %nrr i 'srrftrr ft 31^; ^r Inn u j* whr miyft' 
^^nae Ithtii 3 *n«ff|^ iotseY sn^Y i ott^ sf wtqJ, "ft wr^N wmi-g* ^j ir^t'n 8 Trmwi fir 
^T ^fw ^nfiij If ftn^r hrwHt ^s %nn 11 m ^nftjr ht t^s ^vrtft w^i^mt i xrtw ^svitt^ utt^ft v 

vrrm 1 ^r ?rr ^TCTfwjY *rr^ sttwh tuaflyiaY "srr^rr n t wr*r h sii? •q^HT 1 irtj nn <Hd i M 
*rT *m$ ?rnnrm Ot^t 11] e. wr irefar imp ^pttft wr 1 wr^n ^t w<*ifi^i i ft^ *ttt ^^ trm 11 
10 ^t wm %m 1 ^rrftr sm raichi^' sricj 1 irmftr ^rr% urr^rr ^rro^j wt' u ^ it wisfr' ~wt' ^m^* - 
^r^5T 1 ^rrftsr ^m^ ^ ^rnft wr<jji ^ Hi <* 1 R.^J «n^t* 11 <^ *qx 5 ftrHwnft ttt^jt %tTcj 1 ^nsrw tut^t ^rfanr 
tVssro %twr 1 inre rtrR ^n^cN* ^ wnr ^rftrarn: f^T 11 13 W x:^itn y <T 1 fcfi^T urtu^r j^pn^ji 1 
f^r ^num*m ^rm^T *%* tot "i^rnrr^r sp*# * s& ^ttw ftr $n^ 'anrar^T i *^t ?m^ 'indtmuj 
^rert %557 1 ^TTftrj ft ^^ ^r xarrjsrnf *nt D^rcnrf i] Pif^ *rrc^ i ^nrnraaft^s ^r^HrRn 'rnsrraTft^ i ^rrert 

I. GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The extensive country in which the Mahratta language is vernacular is situated between the 16th and 
22nd degrees of north latitude, and the 73rd and 79th degrees of east longitude, and is calculated to 
enclose a space of 102,000 square miles. It comprehends the whole of Candeish and Aurungabad, 
and part of the provinces of Berar, Beeder, and Bejapoor: the Concan, in which the Mahratta language 
is continually becoming more and more prevalent, is also included in this territory. In consequence 
of the Mahratta conquests, the language is rather widely diffused in other parts of India ; it is the court 
language of Tanjore, and of several places in the Carnatic. The Mahratta population is supposed to 
amount to about eight, or even ten, millions : a correct census appears to have been taken only of the 
portions of this country subject to the Bombay presidency; and the total population of the Mahratta 
districts under British government amounts to upwards of three and a half millions. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OP THE LANGUAGE. 

The Mahratta may be regarded as a kind of link between the Sanscrit dialects of Northern India 
and the languages of the Deccan. Some of its words and idioms are obviously of cognate origin with 
the Bengalee, while in others a notable approximation may be detected to the Tamil, Telinga, and 
other languages of the south. About 50,000 words in a Mahratta dictionary have been examined as 
to their origin and etymology by Dr. Stevenson, and the result of his analysis is as follows: — Of the 
50,000 words he found that 10,000 only were primitives, the rest being merely derivative terms. One 
half of these primitives he proved to be pure Sanscrit words; and of the remaining 5000 primitives 
he showed that 2000 were likewise of Sanscrit origin, but considerably modified or corrupted in form ; 
1000 were ascertained to have been introduced from the Persian and Arabic; and the remaining 2000, 
equal to one fifth of the whole, were found to exhibit more or less resemblance to correlative words 
in the Tamil, Telinga, and Canarese languages, and in the un- Sanscrit portion of the Hindu wee and 
Gujerattee dialects. In point of grammatical construction the Mahratta in general corresponds pretty 



Class III.] MAHRATTA. 127 

nearly with. Bengalee and Hinduwee; and, like the former, it is softer in its articulation than many other 
Indian dialects. The nouns are possessed of two numbers, three genders, and seven cases. There is 
but one form of conjugation for all regular verbs, and auxiliaries are employed in the formation of 
some of the tenses. Most of the past tenses have separate forms for the different genders. The gender 
of these tenses in intransitive verbs is regulated by that of the nominative case, but in transitive verbs 
the past tenses agree in gender with the objective case, and the agent is thrown into the instrumental 
case. In the arrangement of words in a sentence, the construction generally observed is to commence 
with the agent, and to end with the verb. Two different characters are used in writing Mahratta, the 
Modi or Modhe, a kind of running hand, which is derived from, and still retains a strong resemblance 
to, the Devanagari; and the Balboodh or Balborah, which appears to be almost, if not quite, the same as 
the Devanagari itself. The former, vulgarly termed Morhee, is most generally understood, being employed 
in all transactions of business ; but the latter is preferred for printing, because it possesses several letters 
in which the Modi is deficient: it is besides, uniform and regular in appearance, while the Modi varies 
as much in style as the handwriting of different individuals in Europe. 

III. — VERSIONS OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

A version of the Scriptures in Mahratta was commenced at Serampore in 1804, and in 1807 
considerable progress had been made in the translation, both of the Old and of the New Testament, 
and part of the Gospel of St. Matthew had been committed to the press. The first few copies of 
this Gospel were printed in the Devanagari character, but on its being ascertained that the Modi was 
more generally intelligible to the natives, this latter character was employed in all the subsequent 
Serampore editions. In 1811 an edition consisting of 1000 copies of the New Testament was com- 
pleted, and in 1820 a similar edition of the Old Testament left the press. A second and revised 
edition, consisting of 3000 copies of the New Testament, appeared about the year 1825. This version 
gave rise, for a time, to considerable controversy, numerous objections being raised against it; which 
were, however, successfully repelled by the late lamented Mr. WiUiam Greenfield. Yet no farther 
editions of this version were issued at Serampore, probably because the two chief dialects of the 
Bombay presidency, Mahratta and Gujerattee, appeared to be more particularly within the reach of 
the Bombay Bible Society, instituted at Bombay in 1813. Application was made, as before stated, to 
this society by Dr. John Taylor, for their sanction in preparing a new version of any portion of the 
Scriptures in Mahratta and Gujerattee. Dr. Taylor only lived to complete the Gospel of St. Matthew, 
which was printed in 1819. 

Another version of the Mahratta Scriptures was commenced in the year 1817 by the American 
missionaries, and various parts of the New Testament were successively issued from the press; till, in 
the year 1826, an edition of the entire New Testament was printed by them, with the aid of 
the Bombay Auxiliary, and of the Parent Society in London. This edition consisted of a larger 
number of some books than of others, the whole edition being about equal to 5000 copies. An 
improved and carefully revised edition of this Testament, also consisting of 5000 copies, was printed 
in 1830 by the American missionaries. In 1834 the Bombay Bible Society undertook another revisal 
of the Mahratta New Testament, and determined upon issuing an edition of 8000 copies, to be printed 
in the Balboodh character. The printing of this edition was commenced in 1835; and during the 
same year, the society found it necessary to resolve on a separate edition of the Gospels in the Modi, 
or current character, for the use of the lower class of natives. 

While these editions of the New Testament were in course of preparation, the translation of the 
Old Testament into Mahratta was zealously prosecuted by the American missionaries, and by the 
Kev. J. Dixon, of the Church Mission at Nassuck. An edition of Mr. Dixon's version of the Psalms, 
consisting of 1000 copies, was printed for the use of the Bombay Bible Society in 1835: other portions 
of the Old Testament were issued at successive intervals, and in 1839, the printing of the Prophetical 
Books, translated by Mr. Dixon, was completed. During the same year another edition of 2000 



128 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass III. 

copies of the Psalms, revised by Messrs. Dixon and Graves, passed through the press. In 1841 a 
thousand copies of the First and Second Books of Kings, translated by the Kev. A. Graves, had been 
printed; and an edition of 1000 copies of Mr. Dixon's version of the Pentateuch was in the press, 
besides extra copies of some detached portions. About the same period another version of the Psalms, 
executed by the Rev. C. P. Farrer, was published, and appears to have been received with peculiar 
avidity by the Jews of Bombay. 

The whole Bible is now accessible to the Mahratta population, an edition of the Old Testament 
having been completed at the American Mission press, on account of the Bible Society, in 1855. 
Mr. Dixon, by whom the greater part of tins important version was executed, did not live to witness 
the completion of this edition at press : he was one of the first Mahratta scholars in India ; and it is 
stated in a 'recent report of the Bible Society, that " wide testimony has been afforded of the value 
of his translation, which has been characterised by able judges as containing the groundwork and 
foundation of a standard version." Still more recently we learn that a revision of the entire Bible has 
been completed at Bombay, under the care of a committee appointed for the purpose, and an edition 
(yet unfinished) of 5000 copies has since been committed to the press. The polyglot edition of the 
Gospel of St. Matthew, referred to in a previous page, has been issued, and copies of it forwarded to 
the various societies in India, to the Parent Society, and to learned societies in various countries of 
Europe. The edition consists of 250 copies in English and Mahratta in separate columns on the left 
hand, and in Gujerattee and Sanscrit on the right hand page; and of 250 copies in English, Mahratta, 
Gujerattee and Hindustani, printed as above mentioned, with the Sanscrit at the close of the volume. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OE THIS VERSION. 

Among the numerous proofs given by missionaries of the beneficial effects resulting from the 
extensive distribution of the Mahratta Scriptures, no instances are perhaps so deeply interesting as those 
which have reference to the Jews. Some of these singular people are said to have been established 
in the west of India from time immemorial. They have almost lost the knowledge of their 
original language, although they repeat their prayers in Hebrew, and their vernacular dialect is now 
the Mahratta. When they first attracted the notice of Europeans, it was found that they possessed 
none of the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament, and that they were ignorant of the history of 
their people subsequent to the first captivity; they did not keep the feast of Purim, and had never 
even heard of the destruction of Jerusalem. They call themselves " Beni-Israel," and are known 
under that appellation to their Mahratta neighbours: they dislike being called " Yahoodi" (Jews), the 
common name of the Hebrew race in the East; and they disclaim all connection, except that of com- 
munity of faith, both with the black Jews of Malabar, and their fair brethren of Arabia and Persia. 
They are described as retaining the marked features of their race, and as being distinguished from 
the Hindoo and Mohammedan natives by superior intelligence and an integrity of character, recom- 
mending them, not unfrequently, to offices of trust and responsibility, particularly in the army. The 
desire of these descendants of Israel to obtain the Scriptures in their vernacular dialect has been 
frequently referred to by missionaries, as the following extracts will show: — Mr. Layson writes, 
" Every Saturday my house is frequented by Beni- Israel, anxious to obtain the Scriptures. The desire 
of the word of life is very great among them ; and they consider that in possessing the sacred volume 
they have an inestimable treasure. How much do I wish," he continues, " that it were in my power 
to describe the anxiety of these poor people to possess the Scriptures, especially in the Marathi language. 
The last supply which I received, 150 copies of the First and Second Books of Kings, are almost all 
distributed; and another supply of the same number will not be sufficient to meet the incessant 
demand." The statements of other missionaries are much to the same effect. "During the past year," 
writes Mr. Mitchell, " the applications for copies of the Scriptures made to me by the Beni-Israel have 
been numerous. We may say that every Israelite of this class desires to have a copy of the Old 
Testament, both in Hebrew, and his vernacular language, Marathi. Their anxiety to possess the 



Class III.] KUNKUNA. 129 

latter is cheering, as it proves that they seek to understand the meaning of the word of God, and do 
not rest satisfied with a mere utterance of the sound of the venerable Hebrew Scripture. A knowledge 
of the Old Testament, gained through the Marathi Scriptures, is rapidly spreading among the Beni- 
Israel; and to this they themselves attribute the discontinuance of many semi-idolatrous practices that 
had crept in among them in former days of ignorance. Some of them read the New Testament in 
Marathi. On the whole," continues this missionary, " my experience during the last twelve months 
has impressed me with a higher idea than ever of the importance of the field opened up in this part 
of India to the Bible Society, of the good its labours have already done, and the still greater good 
they may yet accomplish." The testimony of missionaries as to the influence of the Mahratta version 
on converts of the Mahratta race, is equally favourable. The Rev. 0. French of Seroor, in a late report 
received from India, expresses himself to the following effect: — " In my labours among the Hindoos 
of this vicinity, I find that the sacred Scriptures are in demand just in proportion to the degree of 
gospel light enjoyed; a fact shewing that the labours of the Bible Society are designed to become 
more and more important as the truth advances. The people often ask for portions of the Bible in 
preference to other books, and on their reception a peculiar satisfaction is generally manifested." 



KUNKUNA. 

SPECIMEN", FROM St. JOHN, Chap, i, v. 1 to 14. 

<* *> fat*-3irc , ^^<mfa^?n;^^T^ftr^ wrfcr Tin; ^? ^nftr^T i "ft ftriht ^TOTfiT wftn£ i 

m ^rrftr wt ^fhr *ptbtt#t |sprr| ^nftr%T i ^rfa ^thi^m wrsFsjrtw swt^t th^t ^Tftr ^rrsB'grra 
Trrerr inr^ ?n i 

% S ^faT^T >iraT^T ^^T ^Tffc^T foff ^TOT ^ ^T I TIT *Tf"W ^^WSS W^T ftp ? *H l d|<j 

w spTir in^r <j«i»i^ ^nftr spnrpr wren ^rraiBT ?n i wt ^jtotdt *aftreiTO ^rfh ^?r#t wfn ^t^ht 

°l* c^ionlPn WT3FT $^JT ^l 1 T(ft ^rw ^ToffTfa WT3ST $W^5T Wretf WT& i=T^5T ^W ^% W^ f^T 

^ ^tnr ^rnro itrtw f^rra -^ fNrrer i ftp $rrar ^ht •srrar^ sn^r sirkr^ $**"»$ j ^twt h^'ui ^ 

** ^^re-s^vrifwwft^n^rg^nrai ^Tftr% **t qnfh; ^ ^ mf* yn ^nftr qf*ro fr rrew 

*wt srre^ ^thtt^ f»r?rft ipn;^ ^rfa ^rfaT#T *f ^sfir wr^ <ihg*# jrore? <snfiT wft^ t^ 

Kunkuna is the proper language of the Con can, a long narrow tract of land, the continuation of 
Malabar and Canara, extending north and south of Bombay. The area of this maritime district has 
been estimated at 12,270 square miles, and its population at 1,044,120. 

10 



130 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class II L 

Kunkuna is intimately connected with the other Sanscrit dialects. In the Lord's Prayer, which, 
when translated into Kunkuna, consists of thirty-two words, twenty-five words have been proved to be 
radically the same as the corresponding words in the Bengalee and Hinduwee versions of the Prayer; 
and, of the remaining six words, several have been found to be almost pure Sanscrit. 

A version of the New Testament exists in Kunkuna, which was executed at Serampore between 
the years 1808 and 1819: the edition consisted of 1000 copies, and was printed in the Devanagari 
character. An edition of the Pentateuch, consisting of an equal number of copies, left the press in 
1821. The translation was afterwards relinquished to the Bombay Bible Society, but no farther steps 
have since been taken towards its completion, probably because the rapidly increasing use of the 
Mahratta dialect among the natives of the Concan appears to render a Kunkuna version unnecessary. 



EOMMANY, OH SPANISH-GIPSY. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. LUKE, Chap. vi. v. 27 to 38. 

27 Tami penelo a sangue sos lo junelais : Camelad a jires daschmanuces, querelad 
mistos a junos sos camelan sangue choro. 28 jMajarad a junos sos zermanelan a sangue, 
y manguelad a Debel por junos sos araquerelan sangue choro! 29 Y a 6 sos curare tucue 
andre yeque mejilla, dinle tambien a aver. Ya o sos nicobelare tucue o uchardo, na 6 
impidas lliguerar tambien a furi. 30 Din a os sares ma tucue manguelaren : y a 6 sos 
ustilare ma sinela de tucue, na se lo pida. S1 Y ma camelais que querelen a sangue os 
manuces, ocolo matejo querelad sangue a junos. m Y si camelais a junos sos camelan a 
sangue, <$ que merito terelareis? Presas os chores tambien camelan a. junos sos os 
camelan. 33 Y si querelais mistos a junos sos querelan mistos a sangue, I que merito 
terelareis ? Presas os chores tambien querelan ocono. 34 Y si prestisareis a ocolas, de 
coines ujarais ustilar, i que merito terelareis ? Presas tambien os chores prestisaran 
yeques a averes, somia ustilar aver tanto. 35 Camelad pues a jires daschmanuces ; quere- 
lad mistos, y difiad prestado, bi ujarar por ocono chichi ; y jire manchin sinara baro, y 
sinareis chabores e Udscho, presas 6 sinela gacho aun para os sungales y chores. 
30 Sinelad pues canreosos, sasta tambien jire Dada sinela canreoso. 37 Na juzgueis, y na 
sinareis juzgados ; na sapleis, y na sinareis saplados. Ertinad y sinareis ertinados. 
38 Difiad, y a sangue se difiara : melalo lacho, perelalo, y baro, y costunado difiaren andre 
jire chepo : presas sat o matejo melalo con que melalareis, a sangue se volvera a melalar. 

e 

I. — DIFFUSION AND STATISTICS. 

The vagrant tribes known in England by the name of Gipsies wander in hordes or companies about 
the plains of Asia, and in certain parts of Africa, as well as in most of the countries of Europe. 
Without historical records, without traditions, without even a religion of their own, they are bound 
together by national habits and customs, by the love of an unsettled life, and by a peculiar language; 
and, like the Jews, they exist from generation to generation as a separate people in the midst of many 
nations. In Germany they are called Zigeuner, as if from the Sigyuni mentioned by Herodotus as 
living on the banks of the Danube; in Kussia, Zig∋ in Turkey and Persia, Zingarri, probably a 



Class III.] EOMMANY. 131 

corruption of Tchingani or Zingani, the name of a predatory race inhabiting the tract of land near 
the mouth of the Indus; and these various appellations, all apparently springing from the same etymon, 
may, it has been conjectured, be radically the same as the term Zincali, by which they sometimes 
designate themselves; a term compounded of two words, and supposed to signify the black men of 
Zend, or Ind. The English name Gipsy (from E-gypt-ian) and the Spanish Gitano, arose from a 
notion once currently entertained respecting the Egyptian origin of this singular people, from whence 
perhaps they derive their name Roma, from Romi, in Coptic " a man." In France they are still called 
Bohemiens (Bohemians), either because they first entered that country from Bohemia, or else from the 
old French word boem, a sorcerer, in allusion to the arts they have so long exercised in practising 
upon the credulity of the vulgar. They have been known in Europe only since the beginning of the 
fifteenth century. The most severe legislative enactments have at various times been framed against 
them, on account of their inveterate habits of petty depredation; yet no degree of persecution has ever 
succeeded in effectually diminishing their numbers, or in driving them from countries into which they 
have once introduced themselves. Grellman computed that in his time the number of Gipsies through- 
out Europe amounted to between 700,000 and 800,000, of whom, he said, 40,000 were located in 
Spain, chiefly in the southern provinces. Mr. Borrow likewise is of opinion that there are at the 
present moment about 40,000 Gipsies in Spain, but he considers that they were formerly considerably 
more numerous in that country. There are also great numbers of Gipsies in Hungary and Tran- 
sylvania, where they are extensively employed in washing gold from the sands of the rivers, and 
occasionally in other avocations. The Gipsies at present dispersed through England are supposed to 
number about 20,000. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIALECT. 

In default of all historical evidence concerning the proper country of the Gipsies, their dialect 
indicates with tolerable distinctness that their origin is to be traced to India. Their physical 
conformation, their complexion, and their peculiar mode of life, furnish additional proofs of their 
Indian descent; for Captain Richardson has shown that in these points they bear a very strong resem- 
blance to a sort of people in India called Bazeegurs; and many writers have attested that in these and 
other respects they may well be compared to the lowest caste of Hindoos, particularly to certain thievish 
castes, who to this day are to be found in various parts of India. To account for their sudden appear- 
ance in Europe, Adelung conjectured that they fled thither to escape the cruel war of devastation 
carried on by Tamerlane, in 1408-9; but this hypothesis rests on very insufficient data; and it is 
equally reasonable to suppose that they may have left their country either to evade the laws they 
had outraged, or in pursuit of farther plunder. 

The language still spoken by the Gipsies in all the countries through which they are dispersed is 
a dialect of the Sanscrit: it is called Rommany, from rom, a husband, or a man; and so close is its 
affinity with other Indian dialects, that it is by many considered as little else than a corrupt form of 
Hinduwee. It is related of Lord Teignmouth, the first president of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society, that one day chancing to meet with a Gipsy woman, he was struck with her resemblance in 
form and feature to the natives he had been accustomed to see in India. He addressed her in Hindustani, 
with which language he was familiarly acquainted, and found to his surprise that she could perfectly 
understand him. He then invited her and several of the members of her tribe to his house, and 
induced them to pronounce a number of words in Rommany, which he carefully noted down : many 
of these words he discovered to be purely Hindustani, while others were obviously derived from 
Sanscrit roots. But although the idioms, and almost all the words of the Rommany, are unquestionably 
of Indian extraction, it has also adopted terms belonging to other families of languages. Several 
Sclavonic words, for instance, are to be detected in Rommany; and this circumstance seems to have 
arisen from the Gipsies, in their migration from the East, having passed through the steppes of Russia, 
where many of the tribe are still to be met with. Modern Greek words, probably learnt during their 



132 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

passage through Bulgaria, are also occasionally to be heard in their language; and still more abundant 
is the intermixture of Persian words. The languages of the other countries in which the Gipsies have 
established themselves have had more or less influence in the modification of Kommany. In Spain, 
its grammatical peculiarities have entirely disappeared; its syntax, its declension of nouns, its conju- 
gation of verbs, being all subjected to the rules of Spanish grammar. In Hungary and Transylvania 
it is spoken with tolerable purity; and in England the idiom has suffered far less modification than in 
Spain, for the English dialect of Rommany still retains its original syntax to a certain extent, and its 
peculiar methods of conjugation and of declension. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. 

The whole of the New Testament has been translated into the Spanish dialect of Rommany by 
Mr. Borrow, who during a long course of years had opportunities of familiar intercourse with the 
Gipsies, never obtained before or since by any individual unconnected with the race. Determined 
that this neglected people should understand the Gospel, Mr. Borrow proposed that they should them- 
selves translate it. With this view he assembled some of the Spanish Gipsies together, and commenced 
with the Gospel of St. Luke, they rendering into Rommany the sentences which he delivered to them 
in Spanish. They proceeded in this way as far as the middle of the eighth chapter, when Mr. Borrow 
found it necessary to complete the translation himself, supplying deficiencies from a version which he 
had commenced at Badajoz in 1836. He printed 500 copies of this Gospel at Madrid in 1838; it was 
the first book that had ever appeared in Rommany. Copies of the work were so eagerly sought by 
the Gitanos of Madrid, that Mr. Borrow remarks he could readily have disposed of the whole edition 
in a fortnight, had it not been for the opposition to its circulation excited by the clergy immediately 
on its publication. " Sorcery!" exclaimed one bishop. " There is more in this than we can dive 
into," said a second. " He will convert all Spain by means of the Gipsy language," said a third. 
In compliance with their entreaties, the Corregidor, or Gefe politico, of Madrid gave orders for the 
seizure of all copies of the Gipsy Gospel exposed for sale, and the soldiers obtained about thirty copies, 
which they sold at a high price for their own benefit. The translator was shortly afterwards consigned 
for three weeks to imprisonment, under the suspicion that he was attempting to revolutionise the 
country, and annihilate the power of Rome by means of his Rommany version of the Gospel. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

The Rommany Gospel of St. Luke, the only portion of Mr. Borrow's version that has yet been 
printed, was found to be perfectly intelligible to the Spanish Gipsies : many of the men were able to 
read it, and appeared to set a high value on it; yet it soon became evident that it was the language, 
and not the heavenly doctrine, which they prized. Even the women, who in general are unable to 
read, were anxious to possess themselves of copies to use as charms or amulets in preserving them 
from danger, especially in their thieving expeditions. The result of Mr. Borrow's zealous endeavours 
to disseminate a knowledge of the Scriptures among this singular people, may be briefly summed up 
in his own words: — " They listened," he tells us, "with admiration, but alas! not of the truth, the 
eternal truths I was proclaiming, but to find that their broken jargon could be written and read. The 
only words of assent which I ever obtained, and that rather of a negative kind, were the following 
from the mouth of a woman : — ' Brother, you tell us strange things, though perhaps you do not lie ; 
a month since I would sooner have believed these tales, than that this day I should see one who could 
write Rommany.' " Of late years efforts have been made in England by Mr. Crabb and others in 
behalf of English Gipsies; and a school, in which Gipsy children are instructed in the knowledge of 
Scripture, where they are at the same time trained for service, and taught various trades, has been 
established at Farnham, near Blandford, Dorset. 



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Class III.] TAMUL. 133 

T A M II L, OR TAMIL. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION IN THE NATIVE CHARACTER, see Plate 4, page 133. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 12. 

1 Athiyile varttei yirundathu. Avvarttei Parabaranidattil irundathu. Allamalum 
avvartteiye Parabaran. 2 Athu athiyile Parabaranidattil irundathu. 3 Sagalamum athinale 
yundayittu. Athu villamal oru siruttiura undagavillei. Athile sivan undayirundathu. 
4 Anda chivan manithanudeiya oliyayirundathu. 5 Anda oli yirulile pirugasamayittu. 
Irulanathu athei pattikkoUavillei. 6 Yovan ennum oru manithan Parabaranal anuppappattu. 

7 Tannale yellarum visuvasikkuui padikku anda oliyeik-kurittu chatchi kodukka vandan. 

8 Avan anda oli yalla anda oliyeik-kurittu chatchik-kodukkave vandan. 9 Meyyana 
oliyanavar ulagattile varugira manithar yavareiyum piragasippikkirar. 10 Avar ulagattil 
irundar Allamalum ulagam avarale yundayittu. ulagam avarei ariavillei. 11 Avar 
tamathu sondattit cherndar. Avarukku chondamanavargal avarei yettukkojlavillei. 
12 Avarudeiya namattin mel visuvasamay avarei yettukkondavergal ettanei pergalo attanei 
pergalukku Parabaranudeiya pilleigal ayirukkum padi athigaran koduttirukkirar. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Tamul, the language of the ancient kingdom of Dravira, is spoken in the extensive country now 
called the Carnatic, and is the vernacular language from the town of Pulicat in the north to Cape 
Comorin in the south, and from the shores of the Indian OceaD on the east to the Ghauts on the west. 
This important territory, which since 1801 has heen entirely under British government, includes 
Madras, Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Madura, Tinnevelly, and Coimbatore. The inhabitants have been 
estimated at upwards of six millions and a half; they are chiefly Hindoos of the Brahminical sect, and 
there are comparatively few Mohammedans among them. The Tamul language also obtains along the 
whole northern coast of Ceylon, including the populous district of Jaflha, where it is spoken by a race of 
people sometimes called the Malabars. Tamul is likewise the vernacular language of the Moormen of 
Ceylon; they are dispersed in great numbers through every part of the island, especially at Colombo, 
and are supposed to be the descendants of Arabs, who, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, conquered 
several of the seaport towns of India and Ceylon. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OP THE LANGUAGE. 

It is a question of the highest historical interest whether Tamul and the other languages of the 
DecCan are to be considered as the daughters of the Sanscrit, or whether their origin is to be traced 
to some other source. Drs. Carey and Wilkins considered them to be undoubtedly derived from the 
Sanscrit, and Colebrooke was inclined to adopt the same opinion. Mr. Ellis, in the Preface to 
Campbell's Teloogoo Grammar, was the first to doubt their supposed relationship to Sanscrit; and 
Babington, in his Introductory Bemarks to the Gooroo Paramartan, has maintained the same view of 
the case. The various researches which have been made into the subject have at length led to the 
conclusion that these southern languages are the remnants of some ancient tongue, which at a very 
remote period of antiquity probably pervaded the whole of India, as some slight traces of it are yet 
to be met with even in the Sanscrit dialects of the north. But whether this hypothesis be correct or 
not, it has been satisfactorily proved that Tamul and its cognate languages derive their source from no 
language at present in existence ; and if in most systems of classification they have obtained a place 



134 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

among the Sanscrit family of languages, they owe their position not to their origin, but to the modifi- 
cation of their elementary structure induced by the superposition of Sanscrit forms ; a process which 
has been carried on for centuries, dating from the period when the natives of the south received the 
religion of the north, and bowed to the domination of the Brahminical sect. Tamul, however, possesses 
fewer Sanscrit terms than the other languages of the Deccan. They exist in Tamul, in the same 
manner and proportion as Greek and Latin terms are mixed up with the Anglo-Saxon element in 
English. It has two distinct dialects, the Kodun, or common dialect, which contains the greatest 
admixture of Sanscrit words; and the Shen, or- polished dialect, which, from its long disuse as a collo- 
quial medium, has been preserved in a state of greater purity. A knowledge of the former alone is 
quite sufficient for all ordinary intercourse with the natives, but acquaintance with the high, or Shen, 
dialect is necessary for those who wish to study Tamul literature and science. 

The chief peculiarities of the Tamul language as briefly summed up by Anderson, consist in the 
absence of a relative pronoun, in the small proportion of adjectives and particles properly so called, in 
the power of employing adjectives in an adverbial capacity, in the exact correspondence in termination 
between the demonstrative pronouns and the third person of verbs, in the existence of a negative verb, 
and, above all, in the conjugation of derivative nouns. Some of those characteristics are to be met with 
in the Telinga, Canarese, and Malayalim languages; but in the possession of a conjugate derivative, Tamul 
appears to stand quite alone. This singular grammatical form seems to have arisen from a remarkable 
interchange of the properties peculiar to different parts of speech, for as in other languages, as well as 
in Tamul, verbal nouns are liable to be inflected as substantives, so the derivatives of nouns are liable 
in Tamul to be conjugated as verbs. Tamul nouns have eight cases, three of which are ablative, and 
are distinguished as local, causal, and social ablatives. Words performing the office of prepositions in 
this language always stand after the nouns or pronouns which they govern. The verbs possess properly 
but three moods, the indicative, imperative, and infinitive; and the third person of each tense denotes 
the changes of gender by corresponding changes of termination. The negative verb, which in Tamul 
and its cognate languages conveys a negative signification without the aid of particles, is formed by the 
mere removal (except in the third person neuter and its derivatives) of the usual characteristic aug- 
ments of the affirmative. 

A Tamul alphabet, which, like the Greek, consisted of sixteen letters, is said to have been in use 
among the natives of the country before the introduction of the Sanscrit language. The characters 
now employed in writing Tamul are thirty in number, and are evidently, so far at least as form is con- 
cerned, for the most part derived from the Devanagari. The order in which they are arranged is 
similar to that of the Sanscrit alphabet, and even letters representing sounds which do not occur in 
Sanscrit, are formed by the combination of Devanagari characters. All aspirates are rejected from the 
Tamul alphabet, and the language is, for that reason, soft and well sounding; though not so much so 
as the Teloogoo. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The honour of executing the first Tamul version of the Scriptures belongs to the Danish mis- 
sionaries. Ziegenbalg, the first missionary sent by the Danish Government to their settlement at 
Tranquebar, commenced the translation of the New Testament in 1708, and completed it in 1711. 
The printing of this version was delayed in order that it might receive the benefit of a thorough 
revisal, and this important task was committed to the missionary John Ernest Grundler, who had 
arrived in India soon after the commencement of the translation. Under his care the work was printed 
at Tranquebar in 1714, at the press and on paper provided by the Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge. His Majesty George I. of England took an especial interest in the progress of this version, 
and addressed a letter to Ziegenbalg. The translation of the Old Testament was commenced by this 
devoted missionary in 1717, and in 1719, he had carried it as far as the Book of Ruth, when he sank 
beneath the weight of his manifold, labours, at the age of thirty-six. It is not certain whether his 



Class III.] TAMUL. 135 

translations were executed immediately from the sacred originals, or from the German version of 
Luther. After his decease, and that of his fellow-labourer Grundler, which occurred during the 
following year, the revision of his manuscripts and the prosecution of the version of the Old Testament 
devolved on Benjamin Schultze, a missionary who had arrived from Halle a short time previously, 
under the patronage of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Schultze published the 
portion of the Old Testament translated by Ziegenbalg in 1723, and completed the version in 1727. 
He was well acquainted with Hebrew, and is said to have consulted most of the European versions in 
the course of his translation. Such was his indefatigable zeal, that in the midst of important missionary 
duties, and in the relaxing climate of Southern India, he regularly devoted six hours daily to the 
prosecution of his work. He likewise addressed himself to a diligent revision of the New Testament, 
a second edition of which he put to press in 1722, and completed in 1724, at Tranquebar. In 1758 
a third edition of the New Testament was printed at the same place; it had previously been subjected 
to another revision, in which several missionaries took a part. The second Tranquebar edition was 
reprinted at Colombo in 1741-3, after having undergone some alterations adapting it to the Tamul 
spoken in Ceylon : this edition was designed for the native Tamulian Christians in that island, and was 
published under the auspices of Von Imhoff, the governor. 

In 1777 an important version of the New Testament was published by the Rev. J. P. Fabricius, 
one of Schultze's successors in the Danish mission at Madras. This version is far more elegant and 
classical in diction than that of the Tranquebar translators. Fabricius likewise undertook the revision 
of Schultze's version of the Old Testament, preparatory to a second edition ; but the work as revised 
by him has every claim to be considered a new and independent version. He sent the translation, 
sheet by sheet, for examination and correction to the missionaries at Cuddalore; from them it passed 
to the Danish missionaries, and from them to the native translator to the Danish Government. The 
notes and corrections thus obtained were carefully collated by Fabricius, and the whole translation was 
again subjected by him to a searching revision. It was printed at the mission press at Tranquebar 
between the years 1777 and 1782, under the especial care of two missionaries, one of whom was 
Dr. Bottler. Fabricius was esteemed an " unparalleled Tamul scholar," and his translation long held 
the rank of the standard Tamul version of the Scriptures. 

The editions of the two versions of the New Testament above mentioned, printed by the Danish 
missionaries prior to the commencement of the present century, amount in all to fourteen, besides two 
versions of the Old Testament. They were assisted by grants of paper and other supplies from the 
Eoyal College of Copenhagen, the Orphan House at Halle, and the Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge. Still the number of copies issued was very far from being adequate to the wants of the 
native Christians; and the deplorable scarcity of the Scriptures in the Tamul country was first pressed 
upon the notice of the British and Foreign Bible Society in a letter from the Bev. Dr. Buchanan, 
dated Madura, 1806. Dr. Buchanan stated that of the ten or twelve thousand Protestant Christians 
then belonging to the Tanjore and Tinnevelly districts, not one perhaps in a hundred had a New 
Testament; and he described the people in general as " clamorous for Bibles, supplicating for teachers, 
and saying, ' we do not want bread or money from you, but we want the word of God.' " In con- 
sequence of these and other similar representations, the Corresponding Committee at Calcutta raised 
a subscription for the purchase of all the copies of the Tamul Scriptures which could be then obtained, 
and which bore a price placing them beyond the reach of the poorer Christians. These copies reached 
Tanjore in 1810, where they were received with the most lively gratitude; and the supply was 
acknowledged " not only as a seasonable and acceptable present, but as the cause of abundant thanks- 
giving to God through Jesus Christ our Saviour, from many who were desirous to know the saving 
truths which the Bible contains, and to use it for the benefit of their souls." Arrangements were then 
made by the British and Foreign Bible Society for the publication of another edition, and after due 
inquiries had been instituted, it was deemed advisable to print it at the Serampore press, from the 
admired text of Fabricius. Notwithstanding the disastrous fire in which the Tamul fount of types 



136 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

and a large supply of paper were destroyed, the edition, consisting of 5000 copies, was completed by the 
Serampore missionaries in 1813. 

, As a great demand for the Scriptures still continued throughout the Tamul country even after the 
circulation of this large edition, it seemed necessary to take immediate measures for issuing farther 
supplies. The want of copies of the Scriptures appeared to be particularly felt at Ceylon, where the 
number of native Christians speaking the Tamul language was estimated at 45,000. Besides the 
edition of the New Testament published at Colombo in 1743, as above mentioned, a version of the 
Pentateuch, translated by Mr. de Milho, had also been printed in Ceylon, under the patronage of the 
Dutch Government, in 1790. These editions, however, had been long exhausted, and the people 
in general were almost destitute of the Scriptures. It was, therefore, deemed advisable not only to 
issue another edition, but also to obtain such a revision of the existing version as might render it 
intelligible to the Tamul population of Ceylon and of the adjacent continent. This important 
revision was committed to the Eev. C. T. E. Rhenius of the Church Mission, subject to the superinten- 
dence of the Rev. Dr. Rottler (who had formerly assisted in carrying the version of Fabricius through 
the press), and the inspection of the missionaries at Trichinopoly, Tanjore, and Tranquebar. To 
secure the greater accuracy of the work, a committee of translation was appointed at Madras in 1821, 
and great hopes were entertained of the success of a version carried forward under such efficient' 
management, and in the midst of the Tamul country. In order, however, to meet the actual demand 
for the Scriptures, it was found requisite, while the revision was in progress, to issue another edition 
from the text of Fabricius. This edition appears to have consisted of 1000 copies of the Old Testament, 
2500 of the New Testament, and 2500 extra copies of the Gospels and Acts: the Old Testament was 
printed at the Vepery press of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and the New Testa- 
ment at the Church Missionary Society's press at Madras; the edition was completed about the year 
1824. In 1825 the revision of the Gospel of St. Matthew was finished, and an edition of 10,000 copies 
was published by the Madras Committee. The following year another edition of the Old Testament 
from the text of the Tranquebar translators was commenced: it consisted of 5000 copies of the Penta- 
teuch, and 2500 of the other books of the Old Testament, and appears to have been completed about 
the year 1832. In the meantime the revision of the old version under the care of Mr. Rhenius was 
rapidly proceeding, and in 1827 an edition of 5000 copies of the New Testament was put to press. 
In 1828 the Four Gospels were completed, and so rapid was the circulation, that another edition of 
5000 copies was immediately ordered, and the part of the New Testament containing the Epistles was 
extended to 7500 copies. 

Yet, notwithstanding these large issues, the desire of the native population to receive the Tamul 
Scriptures more than kept pace with the ability of the committee to supply them ; and it was found 
that before the last books of an edition could be got from the press, nearly all the first books had 
been distributed, so that it appeared almost impossible to issue one complete and uniform copy of 
the Tamul Old and New Testaments. The Madras Committee, therefore, determined in 1831 to 
print 12,000 copies of the Tamul New Testament in small type. This 'edition was afterwards extended 
to 15,000, and the revised version was selected as the text on account of the numerous testimonies 
that had been laid before the committee in proof of its superiority over the version of Fabricius. To 
expedite the revision and publication of the entire Tamul Scriptures, two additional sub-committees of 
revision were formed about this period, (the one at Tanjore, and the other at Nagracoil and Palam- 
cottah,) consisting of Churchmen, "Wesleyans, Lutherans, and Dissenters of various denominations, who 
all agreed to set aside party distinctions, in order to promote the publication of the word of truth. 
In 1844 an edition of 6000 copies of the entire Tamul Bible was completed. The Old Testament was 
the version of Fabricius, corrected as to grammar and orthography; and the New, that of Rhenius: it 
contained the headings of chapters and the chronology from the English. In printing this edition 
the Madras Society was assisted by funds from the American Bible Society, and by supplies of paper 
from the British and Foreign Bible Society. During the same year (1844) 10000 copies of each of 



Class III.] TAMUL. 137 

the Four Gospels in 18mo., Fabricius's version, were ordered to be printed at the press of the Christian 
Knowledge Society, Vepery ; and the same number and size of the revised version at the American 
Mission press, for the use of schools. Other portions of Scripture were printed at about the same 
period at the Neypoor press, for the use of schools in Tinnevelly and Travancore, and for the purposes 
of public worship. 

A second edition of the uniform Tamul Bible, with headings and chronology from the English, 
and references from the German version, was completed in 1848. The edition consisted of 6000 copies, 
and the demand for it was at once considerable. Among other portions of Scripture recently printed 
under the auspices of the British and Foreign Bible Society, it may be noticed that an edition of 3000 
copies of the New Testament in 12 mo. has been published, according to rules proposed by a Tamul 
sub-committee of revision, for separating the words in printing, and in many cases omitting the usual 
changes, reduplication, and elision of letters required by the law of Sandhi in the high dialect. Another 
edition of the New Testament, printed from the version of Rhenius at Neypoor, has since been issued, 
for the use of the large and increasing native church in that section of the Tamul country ; together 
with several large editions of portions of the New Testament, from the same version. 

It remains to notice another version of the Tamul Scriptures which has more recently been 
completed in Ceylon, and which is known as the " Union Version." The chief agent in its pro- 
duction was the Rev. P. Percival, who was engaged for a period of fourteen years in that arduous task, 
devoting six hours daily to it: valuable help was furnished by the Reverends Messrs. Spalding, Winslow, 
and Brotherton. Great, however, as had been the care bestowed upon its execution, it was determined 
that the first edition of the "Union Version" should be regarded only as a trial, with a view to 
obtain the opinions of Tamul scholars as to its merits, and the number of copies was accordingly limited 
to 3500. High praise has been bestowed upon this version with regard to its idiom, correctness, 
neatness of style, and its general fidelity to the original; it has, nevertheless, been generally 
regarded as deficient (in common with prior versions) in some of the qualities necessary to a standard 
version of the Tamul Scriptures. The complete revision of the Tamul Bible, with a view to the 
preparation (from the two translations of the Old Testament, and the three versions of the New, that 
are already in existence) of an edition which may be finally regarded as a standard authority, has 
occupied during several years the anxious care of the Madras Auxiliary Society; and a recent engage- 
ment has been made between the Parent Committee of the Bible Society, and the Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, by which this desirable object seems likely to be accom- 
plished. The Rev. H. Bower has undertaken to conduct the task of revision; the work being in the 
first instance limited to the New Testament only, with a view to obtain a general opinion of the merits 
of the revised version thus formed, before incurring the large outlay which the like revision of the Old 
Testament will involve. The work, on this plan, is now (1860) in progress. 

IV. — RESULTS OP THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 
As the Tamul was the first language of India in which the Gospel was proclaimed by Protestant 
missionaries to the natives, and the first into which the Scriptures were translated for their benefit, so 
it has been observed that, "for spiritual privileges, for missionary zeal and enterprise, for the light 
and liberty which prevail, the Tamul country may well be called the Goshen of India." The rapid 
circulation of so many large editions of the Scriptures, as above described, is in itself a proof of the 
alacrity with which the natives have received the word of God ; and individual instances, in proof that 
the precious seed thus gladly welcomed was owned and blessed of God, are to be found in great numbers 
in missionary records, and in the reports of the Bible Society. Let one example here suffice. Shun- 
kuru-Lingum was born at Quilon, about 1787, of heathen parents, of the Vellaula or Cultivator caste. 
After several changes in his temporal circumstances and position, he entered the service of a gentle- 
man holding a civil appointment under the Ceylon government. An apparently trivial circumstance 
was the turning-point of his life. Under a tree of the forest he found a copy of the Gospels in Tamul, 



138 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

probably left there by a follower of the British camp, for it was the time of the Kandyan war, and 
strangers from Tranquebar bad come over to Ceylon with tbe army. He read the book with eager 
delight; it opened up to him a new region of thought and inquiry, and ultimately was blessed to his 
conversion. Deeply affected by a sense of the spiritual degradation of his countrymen, and impelled 
by love to his Saviour, he sought to make known the truth to others, and became a minister of the 
Gospel; and he afterwards underwent much persecution as a setter-forth of strange gods, because he 
preached Jesus and the resurrection. 

The general aspect of the present state of affairs in the Tamul country, brought about by the ex- 
tensive distribution of the Scriptures, may be gathered from the following passage in a recent letter of the 
Kev. J. H. Gray, one of the secretaries of the Madras Bible Society: — " I think I can say, ' that the 
word of the Lord is running,' and our Lord Jesus Christ is being glorified in Southern India. If it 
be a proof of this, that we find ' the strong man armed' no longer enjoying a peaceful possession of his 
goods, or that we see bitterness and persecution rife among the heathen towards Christians, we are 
beginning to have these things abound at our doors; and the so called gentle and passive Hindoo is 
now seen in the streets of Madras, armed with a hatchet to cut down the gate of a missionary's house, 
and rescue his relative, who had fled thither as to a city of refuge from heathen superstition and 
uncleanncss; or he is seen casting his son's or his brother's Bible into the fire, lest it should convert 
him ; and thousands upon thousands can meet together, to cry for their gods, as lustily as ever they 
did at Ephesus in behalf of Diana." 



TELINGA, OR TELOOGOO. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THE TELINGA, OE TELOOGOO VERSION, see Plate 3, page 91. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Telinga language is spoken within 23 miles of Madras, and prevails for about 500 miles along 
the coast, from the vicinity of Pulicat to the borders of Orissa. In the interior it extends as 
far west as Beedr, through nearly the whole of Hydrabad, a part of Berar, and the eastern provinces 
of Mysore. The portion of the Telinga country subject to the Madras presidency includes the five 
Cirears — Vizagapatam, Kajahmundry, Masulipatam, Guntoor, and the Cuddapah and Nellore districts 
of the Carnatic. The superficial extent of the entire region in which this language is predominant has 
been estimated at 118,610 square miles. The natives are Hindoos, and number about 10,000,000. 
The Telinga language is also diffused to a greater or less extent through various countries of Southern 
India, in which the Tamul and Canarese are the proper vernacular languages. This diffusion in part 
arises from the early conquests, dating from the fourteenth century, achieved by the people of Telinga 
in the south. Like the Komans, they endeavoured to secure their conquests, and to keep the natives 
in subjection by the establishment of military colonies; and the Telinga language is still spoken by the 
descendants of, the Telinga families, who were deputed by the kings of Vidianagara to found these 
colonies. The roaming tendencies of the Telinga people also serve to account in part for the diffusion 
of the language. On this subject the missionaries have remarked that " in intelligence, migratory 
habits, secular prosperity, and unfrequency of return to their native land, this people are, in relation 
to other parts of India, what the Scotch are in relation to England and the world." 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Telinga is the softest and the most polished of the languages of Southern India, and contains the 



Class III.] TEL IN G A. 139 

greatest proportion of Sanscrit words. In point of fulness, it may be styled the " Spanish" of the 
Indian peninsula. Yet the Sanscrit terms with which it unquestionably abounds form no part whatever 
of the basis of the language, but appear to have been engrafted on the elements of the original Telinga 
at some period far too remote for inquiry. The grammatical construction of Telinga is alone sufficient 
to prove that it has no claims to be regarded as a mere Sanscrit dialect. In the declension of its nouns 
effected by means of subjoined particles, in the mode of conjugating the affirmative, and in the posses- 
sion of a negative verb, in the use of a plural pronoun applicable to the first and second persons con- 
jointly, and in the peculiarities of its syntax, it offers obvious points of deviation from the forms of 
Sanscrit grammar, while at the same time it exhibits decided affinity in these respects with its cognate 
languages of the Deccan. The Telinga language possesses no word exactly corresponding with our 
article ; the' indefinite article is sometimes expressed by means of the numeral one, but in general the 
article is considered as inherent in the noun. Like the Tamul and Canarese, the Telinga possesses 
that singular part of speech called the relative participle, which displays the combined force of the 
definite article, the relative pronoun, and the verb. It also resembles these languages in the possession 
of two dialects, the common or popular medium, used for all purposes of business and conversation, 
and the high or refined dialect, in which the literature of the nation, consisting chiefly of poetry, is 
written. The dissimilarity between these dialects is so great, that commentaries are requisite in the 
perusal of native works, even in the case of individuals who have acquired the most complete familiarity 
with the colloquial dialect. 

The Telinga possesses great facility in the naturalization of foreign terms; yet, with the exception 
of a few words obtained from the neighbouring provinces of Orissa, Mahratta, and Gujerat, it does not 
appear to borrow many words from foreign sources. Several technical revenue and official terms 
derived from the Hindustani were at one time in common use, but they now begin to be superseded 
by the corresponding English words. The Telinga, like other Indian alphabets, is distinguished by 
the perplexing multiplicity of its symbols, of which there are no less than eighty-one : some of these, 
however, are merely abbreviated forms of the regular initial letters ; others are only used as marks for 
certain consonants when doubled; and some are peculiar to words of Sanscrit origin. " Hence," says 
Mr. Campbell, " all native grammarians concur in reducing the characters to thirty-seven, by excluding 
forty-four, which they acknowledge belong to the language, but which they will not admit into the 
alphabet." In point of form these letters are round and flowing, and form a striking contrast to the 
square characters of the Devanagari, although arranged upon the same principle of classification. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

Schultze, the laborious Danish missionary, was the first who engaged in a Telinga version of the 
Scriptures. He commenced his translation in 1726, immediately after his completion of the Tamul 
version above mentioned. He translated immediately from the Greek and Hebrew texts, and finished 
the Telinga version of the New Testament in 1727. and of the Old Testament in 1732. From some 
cause or other hitherto unexplained, this work was never printed, although Schultze seems to have 
taken some steps towards obtaining the assistance of a learned Brahmin, and a fount of types for the 
purpose. He died in 1760 at Halle, and it has been thought that his Telinga MSS. may still be pre- 
served in that city. The Serampore missionaries commenced another version of the Scriptures in this 
language in 1805, and in 1809 they had translated the whole of the New and part of the Old Testa- 
ment. Soon afterwards they succeeded in casting a fount of Telinga types, but owing to various 
causes of delay, the New Testament was not printed till 1818, when an edition of 1000 copies was 
issued, aided by a grant from the British and Foreign Bible Society; and in 1820, the same number 
of copies of the Pentateuch were published. 

But while this Serampore version was in progress, another Telinga version of the New Testa- 
ment was commenced and carried on to the close of the First Epistle to the Corinthians by the Bev. 
Augustus Desgranges, of the London Missionary Society. He had been stationed at Vizagapatam since 



140 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

1805, and therefore enjoyed great local facilities for the prosecution of his undertaking: he found, 
indeed, but few difficulties in the Telinga language to impede his efforts, and he remarked that " this 
language richly furnishes the translator with words, phrases, and sentences for his purpose;" and that in 
addition to its acknowledged softness, elegance and refinement, it is " regular in construction, replete 
with sentences clear and strong, and abounding with the most beautiful figures of speech." Mr. 
Desgranges was assisted by the Eev. George Cran, who was also stationed at Vizagapatam, and by 
Anunderayer, a Telinga Brahmin of high caste, who had sincerely embraced the Christian religion. 
What our Lord Jesus requires from his followers, Anunderayer had really done, for he had left his 
wife, mother, brother, sister, his estate and property, and had suffered reproach and persecution patiently 
for the sake of the Gospel. Having acquired an intimate knowledge of the Tamul language, he 
translated the Scriptures direct from the Tamul version into his own language, and his work was 
submitted, verse by verse, to Mr. Desgranges, who made such alterations as his critical knowledge of 
the original text suggested. Mr. Cran died in 1808, and Mr. Desgranges two years subsequently; and 
it was found on examination that the first three Gospels were the only portions of the translation that 
were in a state of readiness for the press. Of these three Gospels, 1000 copies were printed at 
Serampore in 1812, under the care of Anunderayer. No alterations whatever were admitted, for it 
was considered that to give the Gospels as the able translator had left them would be a tribute pf 
respect to his memory. 

In the meantime another version of the Telinga New Testament had been commenced. The 
Eev. Messrs. Pritchett and Lee, agents of the London Missionary Society, arrived at Vizagapatam a 
short time prior to the decease of the lamented Mr. Desgranges. Mr. Lee undertook soon afterwards 
a translation of the Book of Genesis, but the preparation of the version afterwards devolved almost 
exclusively on Mr. Pritchett, who addressed himself in the first place to the translation of the New 
Testament. In the first three Gospels he is said to have availed himself of the labours of Mr. Desgranges, 
introducing such alterations as his own judgment suggested. When the version of the New Testament 
was completed, he sent it to Madras for examination, and it was so highly approved by the distinguished 
Telinga scholars to whom it was submitted, that the Madras Bible Society readily closed with Mr. 
Pritchett's proposal to print it for the benefit of the Telinga nation. An edition of 2000 copies was 
therefore issued in 1819, the expenses of which were defrayed by the Calcutta Bible Society. Mr. 
Pritchett was proceeding with the translation of the Old Testament, when, in 1820, he was stopped in 
the midst of his work by death. 

In 1823 another version of the Scriptures was offered to the Calcutta Bible Society by the Bev. J. 
Gordon, also of the London Missionary Society, who had during many years been stationed at Vizagapatam. 
Great difficulty was experienced in deciding upon the relative merits of Mr. Pritchett's and Mr. Gordon's 
translations, and all printing operations were suspended until it could be ascertained which was best 
calculated for general usefulness. At length their respective translations of Genesis and of the history 
of Joseph were circulated for comparison, and when the opinions of competent judges had been col- 
lected, it was found that the result of the investigation was in favour of Mr. Gordon's production, which 
was unanimously declared to be " clear, intelligible, and the more literal translation of the two." At 
the same time Mr. Pritchett's was pronounced a good translation, and more grammatical than Mr. 
Gordon's, but deficient in idiom. The Committee of the Madras Society, therefore, resolved upon 
adopting Mr. Gordon's version, but they requested him before he sent it to the press, to compare it 
carefully with Mr. Pritchett's translation, and "to select therefrom whatever he might think a desirable 
acquisition to his own." Mr. Gordon's important labours were closed by death in 1827. After his 
decease it was found that Mr. Pritchett's version was, after all, more correct than had been expected ; 
certain corrections were accordingly introduced, and an edition of 3000 copies of the New Testament 
was printed in 1828, accompanied by 2000 copies of Mr. Gordon's version of St. Luke. Vigorous 
efforts were subsequently made to revise the versions prepared by Messrs. Pritchett and Gordon, and 
further portions were printed, which, notwithstanding their admitted defects, obtained such extensive 



Plate V. 
Page 141. 



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Class III.] K A It NAT A. 141 

circulation as to warrant the hope that they were perused with profit. An edition of 3000 copies of 
the Old Testament, based upon the version of Pritchett and Gordon, issued from the Madras press in 
1855, together with large editions of particular portions of the Teloogoo Scriptures, both of the Old and 
of the New Testaments. 

Up to the present time the Madras Committee have been still persevering in their endeavours to 
procure an acceptable and faithful version of the Teloogoo Scriptures. The work, however, has advanced 
but slowly. Portions of the New Testament had been completed under the joint care of the Reverends 
Messrs. Wardlaw and Hay, but the printing of them was deferred, owing to a difference of opinion 
that rose among the members of the committee respecting some of the rules laid down for the guidance 
of the translators. From recent Reports of the Bible Society, we learn that the Teloogoo Revision 
Committee appointed in 1856 have completed a new translation of St. Paul's Epistles to the Romans, 
Colossians, and Philemon, and of the general Epistles of St. James, St. John, and St. Jude; together 
with the Four Gospels and Acts; all of which are ready for the press. Among other revised editions 
of portions of the New Testament issued by the Madras Committee from time to time, may be men- 
tioned an edition of 1000 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke, translated by one of the first of Teloogoo 
scholars, C. P. Brown, Esq., son of the late Rev. David Brown, and printed about the year 1839. 
Mr. Brown has subsequently completed a translation of the entire Bible into Teloogoo, and has de- 
posited this version with the Madras Auxiliary; extracts from different portions of the work are being 
printed, with a view to their circulation for the opinions and criticisms of Teloogoo scholars. 



KARNATA, OB, CANAEESE. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THE KAENATA, OE CANAEESE VEESION, see Plate 5, page 141. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The names by which this language is distinguished are by no means calculated to convey a just notion 
of its geographical extension. The term Karnata would naturally lead to the inference that this lan- 
guage is predominant in the Carnatic, which is by no means the case, Tamul, as we have already shown, 
being the vernacular language of that country. The other appellation, Canarese, as applied to this 
language, is almost equally erroneous, for Tuluvu is the proper and original dialect of Canara, although 
it has of late years become restricted to the lower classes of that province. This confusion of terms 
seems to have arisen from the fact of the Mussulman conquerors of the country having erroneously 
extended the distinctive appellation of the ancient province of Carnatica to the adjacent districts, 
namely, to the Carnatic on the one side, and to Canara on the other. The name thus ignorantly 
extended to these countries has been retained; while Carnatica itself, which had alone been previously 
distinguished by this appellation, no longer exists as a separate province, the territories which it com- 
prised being now chiefly known as the Mysore and the Balaghaut, or province of the Upper Ghauts. 
The limits of the Karnata (formerly the vernacular language of Carnatica), may be described as co- 
extensive with those of that ancient province: it may be said to extend from between the 12th to 
above the 18th degree of north latitude, with an average breadth of 180 miles; and it may also be 
considered to include Canara, where it is rapidly superseding the Tuluvu. The amount of population 
to whom the^ Karnata language is vernacular has been estimated at upwards of 7,000,000. These 
people are Hindoos, and are subject to the Madras presidency. 



142 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The idioms of the Karnata or Canarese are very similar to those of the Tamul and Teloogoo, -with 
which languages it is radically connected. Its alphabet, consisting of fifty-six letters, is evidently 
borrowed from the Teloogoo, with the alteration of a few letters; and so far at least as classification 
and order are concerned, like the Teloogoo, it is derived from the Devanagari. A valuable Canarese 
Grammar by M'Kerrell, and a Canarese and English Lexicon in two large quarto volumes, compiled by 
Mr. Eeeve, one of the translators of the Bible, have been published by the Madras Government. And 
since that time a number of Canarese publications, with Grammars and Dictionaries, have been issued 
from the Wesleyan missionary station on the Neilgherries. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The first attempt to produce a Karnata translation of the Scriptures was commenced at Serampore 
in 1808: the work, however, from various causes, appears to have been laid aside from time to time; 
and it was not till 1822 that an edition of 1000 copies of the New Testament was completed at press. 
A version of the Old Testament was also undertaken, and partly executed, by the Serampore mission- 
aries; but they afterwards relinquished the work on finding that similar efforts were being made by 
other labourers, who, from being stationed in the country where the language is vernacular, enjoyed 
greater facilities for the successful prosecution of the translation. The Karnata or Canarese version, 
was, in fact, one of the first contemplated by the Calcutta Bible Society. In 1813 they made an 
application to the Archbishop of Goa concerning the necessity of supplying the native Christians of 
Goa and its neighbourhood with the Canarese Scriptures. These Christians were Roman Catholics, 
and numbered about 200,000. The archbishop, in the true spirit of his church, discouraged the under- 
taking. One of the objections which he urged was, however, afterwards found to be correct; for he 
alleged, and with truth, that the Canarese Christians of Goa spoke a mixture of different languages, 
and that their dialect varied greatly in many districts. 

No farther steps were taken by the committee till, in 1817, a letter was addressed to them by 
Mr. Hands, of Bellary, an agent of the London Missionary Society, stating that he had translated 
the whole of the New Testament into Canarese. As this translation was found on examination by 
competent judges to be adapted for general usefulness, an edition of 2000 copies of the Gospels and 
Acts was printed at Madras, with the sanction and at the expense of the society, under the immediate 
eye of the translator. In order that Mr. Hands might not be longer detained from his station, the 
types and material for printing were afterwards forwarded to Bellary, and the entire New Testament 
was completed in 1821. At this period, Mr. Hands had likewise completed the translation of the Old 
Testament; and his friend and coadjutor, the Rev. Wm. Reeve, had engaged in a separate translation 
of the Pentateuch, with the view of comparing it with that of Mr. Hands, and of securing by this 
means a more correct and idiomatic version. In 1822, while these two translators were labouring 
conjointly in their important undertaking, they were invited by the Madras Bible Committee, upon 
whom the superintendence of this translation had devolved, to associate themselves with Mr. A. D. 
Campbell and Mr. R. C. Gosling, so as to form a sub-committee of translation, calling in the farther 
aid of such learned men as they should find expedient. Under the care of this sub-committee, there- 
fore, the revision of the Old Testament was continued; and every separate portion was again subjected 
to the careful inspection of the committee at Madras previously to its publication. The printing of 
the Old Testament was commenced in 1827, and in the following year, Mr. Hands made the following 
statement concerning his own share in the translation: — "The work was commenced sixteen years ago, 
and scarcely a day has passed in which I have not laboured therein: it has engaged the best part of 
my time and strength: many of the books have been revised and re-copied seven or eight times." The 
printing of the New Testament, which had been commenced at Madras in 1820, was completed at 
Bellary in 1831, by the publication of the Epistles and the Book of Revelation, under the care of 
the sub-committee. In 1832, the Old Testament likewise left the press, and a sub-committee was 



Class III.] KAE.NATA. 143 

formed for the express purpose of revising trie New Testament, prior to a second edition. This edition 
was intended to consist of 5000 copies of the Gospels and Acts, 1000 extra copies of St. Luke and 
Acts, and 3000 copies of the Epistles : it does not appear, however, that the edition was eventually 
issued. 

It has, however, been subsequently found desirable to submit the entire Canarese Scriptures to a 
farther and more elaborate revision, under the immediate care of the Rev. G. H. Weigle, who was 

' engaged by the British and Foreign Bible Society, at the instance of the Madras Committee of 
Revision, to devote his entire time to the task. Under this arrangement, a thoroughly revised trans- 
lation of the Canarese New Testament was completed in 1853, and two large editions have been 

published (the one at Bellary, -and the other at Bangalore) since that date. A like revision of the Old 

Testament has subsequently been accomplished. The whole has been printed, and is now (1860) in the 

hands of the Canarese missionaries and their people. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

In proof of the acceptableness of this version may be cited the observations of the Rev. Mr. Taylor, 
made during a tour in 1831 : — " While travelling about the country," he writes, " in my journey from 
Belgaum, I have had opportunities of putting in circulation the sacred volume in whole and parts. Very 
few instances of unwillingness to receive the Scriptures have come under my observation, but innumer- 
able evidences of great earnestness and solicitude to obtain them. I have had opportunities of ascer- 
taining that the word has been read, and its contents tolerably understood; and the knowledge I found 
some possessed of concerning Christ, and of what he did and suffered to save sinners, has afforded me 
both delight and encouragement." Omitting other testimonies respecting the influence of the Scrip- 
tures on Canarese communities, it may not be uninteresting to quote the following individual instance 
of the blessing of God attending the perusal of the Canarese Bible : — 

" When travelling last year," says the Rev. Mr. Wurth, of Hoobly, " in the southern parts 
of the Dharwar Collectorate, I met with a man who told me that there was a Lingaite Swamee in a 
village called Maraulee, who advised the people to throw away the Linga they wear on their breast, 
and put no confidence in idols, but to believe in Christ. The Swamee, at my request, came to meet 
me, followed by many of his disciples (Lingaite priests) who carried with them a great number of 
books. Among these were the New Testament, Genesis, the Psalms, and the Prophets, all in Canarese. 
After some preliminary conversation the Swamee said openly, ' I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son 
of God, and that the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, is the only 
true God; and though the people call me a madman, I shall not give up this my conviction.' He has 
formed a circle of disciples around him, who are to believe that of which their master is convinced. 
I was quite astonished to hear such sentiments from a Swamee of the Lingaites, who was never in 
close connection with a missionary. He had drawn his knowledge partly from tracts, but more especi- 
ally from the Bible, which in its sublime simplicity is the best teacher. He did not, it seems, till now, 
seek the remission of his sins in Christ, although he admired the sublime truths of the Christian religion. 
But I entertain a good hope, that the word of God, which has led him on so far, and which is quick 
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, will, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, 
become to him, in this respect also, a lamp unto his feet, and a light unto his path." 



144 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 



TULU, OR TULUYTJ. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Tuluvu is the ancient and proper dialect of the long narrow tract of land now called Canara, situated 
westward of the Mysore, between the range of the western Ghauts and the ocean. Canara extends 
about 180 miles along the coast, and comprehends 7,720 square miles. Its inhabitants, in point of 
number, amount to 1,056,000, of whom about one-fifth are Brahmins, and the proportion of Jains and 
of Mussulmans is also rather considerable. Owing to the long subjection of Canara to Karnata princes, 
the Karnata, or Canarese, language is now chiefly spoken by the higher orders of the population in 
that province; Tuluvu, however, still .continues the vernacular of the common people, especially in 
South Canara. The number of individuals who employ the Tuluvu language has been estimated 
at 150,000. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Tuluvu in idiom and structure closely resembles the Malayalim language, and is written in 
the same character. It contains, however, a great many Mahratta, Gujerattee, Telinga, Canarese, and 
Tamul words. 

III. VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

In 1834, a missionary station was established at Mangalore, the capital of Canara, by the German 
Missionary Society; and some progress was shortly afterwards made under the patronage of that 
society, in the translation of the New Testament into the vernacular dialect of the province. In 1844 
the Gospel and Epistles of St. John, and the Acts, translated by Mr. Ammann, and the Epistle of 
St. James, translated by Mr. Griener of Mangalore, were lithographed at the mission-press of that 
station. The editions consisted of from 350 to 400 copies of each book. The entire New Testament 
has since been translated and printed in Tuluvu, under the direction of the missionaries of the Basle 
Society, who have made this province one of their special fields of labour. We do not possess any 
direct information respecting the results that have ensued. 



Class III.] MALAYALIM. 145 



MALAYALIM. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THE MALAYALIM VEESION, see Plate 11, page 337. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Malayalim language is spoken along the western coast of Peninsular India, from Cape Comorin 
to the borders of Canara, and from the sea to the western Ghauts. This region, sometimes distinguished 
by the general name of Malayala, includes an area of 14,190 square miles, and a population of 2,880,000 : 
it comprises the British district of Malabar under the Madras presidency, and the territories of the 
several rajahs of Travancore, Cochin, and Coorg. The natives in general are Hindoos. The Syrian 
Christians, who form an important section of the population, have already been mentioned. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OP THE LANGUAGE. 

Malayalim is a dialect of the Shen Tamul. It has been observed by Mr. Ellis, that the peculiar 
characteristic which distinguishes it from all other Tamul dialects is, that though it is derived from a 
language superfluously abounding in verbal forms, its verbs are entirely devoid of personal terminations, 
the person being indicated simply by the pronoun. The alphabet, as in the other languages of the 
Deccan, is arranged in the order of the Devanagari, but the form of the characters is peculiar. It is a 
more masculine language than the Tamul. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

Dr. Buchanan, who visited the Syrian Christians of Malayala in the beginning of the present 
century, found that several attempts had been made by them at different times, though without 
success, to effect a translation of the Scriptures into Malayalim, their vernacular language. At the 
suggestion of Dr. Buchanan the design was at length carried into execution, and the venerable bishop 
Mar Dionysius engaged to superintend the translation. On his second visit to Travancore in 1807, 
Dr. Buchanan had the gratification to find that the version of the Four Gospels had been completed by 
Timapah Pillay, and Eembar, a catanar or priest of the Syrian church, under the direction of the arch- 
bishop. The translation had been made from the excellent Tamul version of Fahricius, and an edition 
of 5000 copies of these Gospels was printed soon afterwards at Bombay, at the expense of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society. Timapah Pillay was subsequently placed under the superintendence of the 
Rev. Mr. Thompson at Madras, in order to complete the translation of the New Testament from the 
version of Fabricius, and he accomplished the work in 1813. 

Inquiries, however, instituted by Mr. Thompson among persons versed in the language, soon con- 
vinced him that this version, originally intended for the Syrian Church, was not calculated for general 
circulation. It was found to abound with words familiar to the Syrian Christians, but almost unintel- 
ligible to other classes of the Malayalim population. An entirely new translation was accordingly 
projected without delay, and Timapah Pillay was sent to the coast of Malabar for the immediate 
commencement of it, under the superintendence of a gentleman well qualified for the undertaking. 
The progress of the work was retarded by the opposition of the Catholic archbishop of Cranganore, and 
by various other obstacles, and when at length completed it was still found open to the same objections 
that had been brought against the original translation. It appeared in fact, on farther investigation, 
that the language of Malabar varies so much from the purer dialect spoken in Travancore, as to 
render two separate versions desirable, if not indispensable, for the respective parts of the country. 
Mr. Spring, chaplain at Tellicherry, therefore proposed to enter upon a complete revision of Timapah 
Pillay's version, so as to render it acceptable to the natives of Malabar; while Mr. Bailey, who was 

n 



146 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

stationed at Cottayam, engaged to execute a new translation for the benefit of the inhabitants of 
Travancore. Mr. Spring was assisted by two learned natives who translated from Dr. Carey's Sanscrit 
New Testament: their work was afterwards submitted to a committee of natives all versed in Sanscrit, 
and one of them acquainted both with English and Tamul, while Mr. Spring had before him the 
Greek text and various critical works. Mr. Bailey was assisted in his translation by the catanars and 
nairs of the Syrian Church : it was executed partly in the peculiar idiom of the Syrian Christians, and 
partly in a medium style adapted for general usefulness. It was finished in 1819, and on being sub- 
mitted to the Madras Translation Committee was preferred to the purer Malayalim version executed 
by Mr. Spring. 

In consequence of the great anxiety manifested by the Syrian metropolitan, his clergy, and people, 
to obtain some portion of the Scriptures in their vernacular language, an edition of Mr. Bailey's version, 
to consist of 5000 copies, was commenced at Cottayam, at the expense of the Madras Bible Society. 
The Gospel of St. Luke, the first portion printed, was completed at press in 1827; other portions 
followed, and in the year 1830 the whole of the New Testament had been printed. This edition was 
printed with types cast for the purpose by Mr. Bailey : he had never even seen a type foundry or its 
apparatus, but derived all his information from books, and had no assistants but a common carpenter 
and two silversmiths, yet his success was complete. The translation of the Old Testament was like- 
wise completed by Mr. Bailey in 1830, and this work was submitted to a sub-committee, formed in 
1832 in connection with the Madras Bible Society, for the publication of a Malayalim version of the 
Old Testament. About the same period an edition of 3000 copies of the Psalms was begun at press: 
the translation had been made by the Eev. T. Norton, and revised by the Bev. H. Baker. In 1834 
an edition of 5000 copies of the Gospels and Acts, with 2000 separate copies of St. Luke and the Acts, 
was printed in London with types belonging to the Church Missionary Society, and at the expense of 
the British and Foreign Bible Society. The edition was carried through the press by Mr. Bailey, the 
translator, who had been compelled to visit England on account of his health. On returning to 
Cottayam, he took with him the entire edition for distribution, together with a supply of paper for 
printing the remainder of the New Testament at the mission-press. 

Complete editions of both the Old and New Testaments in Malayalim have since issued from the 
Cottayam press, besides large numbers of particular portions of the Scriptures. The version previously 
in current use was, however, admitted to stand in need of farther revision, and a publishing committee 
was appointed, a few years since, for the purpose. The duty undertaken by this committee has since 
made steady advance, and it is stated in the Bible Society's Beport for 1860, that the task is com- 
pleted. The entire Malayalim Scriptures, in this revised form, are now ready for the press. 



IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

The following affecting account of the influence of the Scriptures over the heart and life of a 
Syrian of Malayala, is related by the Rev. Mr. Harley of the Church Mission, in his journal for 1840. 
" Some years ago, a Syrian, of the name of Curiatha, was reclaimed from a most sinful course of life by 
the study of the Gospels, a copy of which he had received from the Bev. S. Ridsdale. In studying 
this holy book he became quite another man; he abandoned his covetous, worldly, and self-seeking 
views, and began to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, with a self-denial, zeal, and boldness 
seldom to be witnessed in a native Christian. He travelled through a great part of South India, 
preaching the Gospel among the heathen. He was quite careless of worldly emolument, and many 
times refused pecuniary assistance, travelling penniless, and contented to live on casual alms. How 
much he suffered for Christ cannot be known, for Curiatha never revealed such matters. As in life, 
so in death, he upheld the honour of the Gospel. He was preaching in the Kunnamkoollam Bazaar, 
when an opposer of the truth, a Syrian, incensed at his zeal, went home for a knife, and returning 
stabbed Curiatha to the heart. Curiatha put up a prayer to God not to lay this sin to the charge of 



Class III.] CINGALESE. 147 

the murderer, and immediately fell lifeless. Such was the end of Curiatha. He was faithful unto 
death." Concerning the effects of the dissemination of the vernacular Scriptures manifested 
throughout Malayala, we have the following interesting account from the Eev. J. Hawksworth, 
in a late report received from that country: — "Although I cannot enumerate many instances of 
evident spiritual benefit and conversion by distribution of portions of Malayalim Scriptures, I am 
persuaded that great good is being quietly and extensively effected. Besides which, I believe the 
careful distribution of the Scriptures here at the present time is the course to be taken to prevent 
the fallen Syriac Church becoming a prey to her old and designing foe — the apostate Church of Eome. 
I may mention, that about ten days ago, I baptised a family of five converts from heathenism, making 
now altogether a party of about thirty souls that have embraced Christianity in one village during the 
last eighteen months. The conversion of the whole of these is traceable to the giving of a Malayalim 
Testament as the means." 



CINGALESE. 

FOE SPECIMEN OE THE CINGALESE VEESION, see Plate 5, page 141. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Island of Ceylon lies at the entrance of the Bay of Bengal, between the 6th and 10th degrees of 
north latitude, and the 80th and 82nd degrees of east longitude. Its area has been estimated at 
25,000 square miles, and the population, according to recent returns, amounts to a million and a half. 
The Cingalese language is only predominant in the interior of the island, and on the southern coast, 
from Batticaloa on the east to the river Chilaw on the west. Tamul, as before mentioned, prevails on 
the northern coast, and Indo- Portuguese is spoken by the descendants of European settlers in many of 
the seaport towns. Pali, as we have already had occasion to state, is the learned and religious language 
of the Buddhists of Ceylon. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The remarks already made on the peculiarities of the Tamul language are almost equally applicable 
to the Cingalese, which closely resembles the Tamul in construction and idiom. In Cingalese, as in 
the languages of the Deccan, and indeed, more or less in all the living languages of India, there are 
two distinct dialects; namely, the dialect employed in books, properly called Elu, but more commonly 
high Cingalese, and which offers very few points of approximation to the Sanscrit, and the vulgar or 
colloquial dialect, in which nine out of every ten words are derived either from Sanscrit or Pali. It is 
a soft language, in which vowels predominate. It partakes of the rich soil and beautiful climate of that 
favoured island in which it is vernacular. The Elu, it is generally supposed, was the language of the 
aborigines of the island, and the colloquial dialect is thought to be a modification of the Elu, altered 
by the intermixture of Pali words, and by other causes. The Cingalese alphabet, Avhich is peculiar, 
contains fifty letters, arranged very much upon the Devanagari system ; but upon examination of their 
powers, the number of articulate sounds may be reduced to seven vowels and twenty-three consonants. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The first Cingalese version of the Scriptures was made when Ceylon was in the possession of the 
Dutch. The Dutch Governor Von Imhoff established a printing press at Colombo in 1737, with the 



148 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

view of disseminating the knowledge of the Gospel among the natives. In 1739 an edition of the 
Four Gospels in Cingalese was completed at this press, under the care of the Rev. J. P. Wetzel, a 
minister of the Dutch church at Colombo. The translation had been executed from the original Greek 
by the Eev. W. Konym, a minister of the same church. It was reprinted at Colombo in 1780, after 
having been revised and corrected by the Rev. Messrs. Fybrands and Philipsz. These two ministers 
likewise superintended an edition of the Acts, printed at Colombo 1771 : two learned Cingalese natives 
had executed this translation, under the direction of the Rev. S. Cat. The Epistles to the Galatians 
and Corinthians were translated by Mr. Philipsz, and printed in 1773; he then completed the trans- 
lation of the remaining books of the New Testament, and committed them to the press in 1776. Of 
the Old Testament, a metrical version of the Psalter was printed at Colombo in 1775, and republished 
in 1778. The books of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus were published in 1783. Mr. Philipsz appears 
to have continued the version as far as the Book of Job ; and after his death the MS. was deposited 
among the archives of the Dutch church at Colombo. 

The Colombo Auxiliary Bible Society was formed in 1812, and one of the first measures adopted 
by the society was the examination of the state of the Cingalese version of the New Testament. It 
was found so replete with errors, that a thorough revision, or a new translation, was deemed indispen- 
sable, and the execution of this important work was intrusted to a committee of Cingalese interpreters, 
under the superintendence of Mr. Armour, an English schoolmaster, well versed in the language, and 
W. Tolfrey, Esq., a civil officer under government and eminent Cingalese scholar. As it had been, 
however, previously ascertained that a most deplorable scarcity of the vernacular New Testament 
existed in Ceylon, a reprint of the former text was made by the Calcutta Auxiliary Society: this 
edition, consisting of 1000 copies, was printed at Serampore in 1813, and was presented to the 
Colombo Society for the purpose of meeting the urgent wants of the people, while the revised edition 
was in course of preparation. As many alterations were requisite in the printed text, the work of 
revision progressed but slowly; constant reference was made to the Sanscrit and Bengalee versions, 
whence many appropriate words and phrases were obtained. The Tamul version was also of much 
assistance, for, owing to the affinity between the two languages, the form of expression in Tamul was 
often found to run easily into Cingalese. The Pali was likewise consulted in order to give clearness 
and precision to the translation ; and Mr. Tolfrey declared that it was expedient to render every chapter 
into Pali, before it could be revised with effect in Cingalese. The whole revision was conducted with 
continual reference to the Greek text and the English version. In 1815, 200 copies of the Gospels of 
St. Matthew and St. Mark were struck off for circulation among Cingalese scholars, and the criticisms 
and opinions thus elicited were decidedly in favour of the work, which was declared to be free from 
the low and familiar words which disfigured the former text, and which, though of constant 
occurrence in the colloquial dialect, are deemed peculiarly reprehensible in the Cingalese written 
composition. 

The lamented death of Mr. Tolfrey occurred just as the revision had reached the Second Epistle 
to Timothy. The prosecution of the work then devolved upon the Rev. Messrs. Chater and Clough, 
in conjunction with Mr. Armour, and by their united exertions a complete edition of 5000 copies of 
the New Testament left the Colombo press in 1817. They then applied themselves to the preparation 
of a version of the Old Testament Scriptures, which they conducted on the same plan as that on which 
the revision of the New Testament had been executed. By the aid of grants received from the Parent 
and Calcutta Bible Societies, and from the American Board of Missions, 1000 copies of the Book of 
Genesis were printed at Colombo in 1818; and in the following year, a second edition of 3500 copies 
of the revised New Testament was published. This was soon followed by 2000 copies of the Psalter, 
and by 1000 copies of each of the other books of the Old Testament, and the entire version was com- 
pleted at press in 1823. Some assistance to this work was granted by the British Government. As 
the supply of the Scriptures was still found inadequate to meet the urgent demands of the people, 
another revised and cheaper edition was undertaken with the aid of the British and Foreign Bible 



Class III.] CINGALESE. 149 

Society; it consisted of 2500 copies of the Old Testament and of 6000 of the New. The Pentateuch 
and Gospels left the press in 1828, and the entire edition was completed in 1830. Farther editions, 
consisting of 5000 copies of the Gospels and Acts, and 3000 copies of the entire New Testament, have 
subsequently been printed at, the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The demand, 
however, continues to be so rapid and constant that these issues are already in a great measure 
exhausted. 

Another translation of the Cingalese Scriptures was undertaken by the Rev. Mr. Lambrick, of 
the Church Mission, at Cotta, a village near Colombo. The first portion of this version that passed 
through the press was the Gospel of St. Matthew, 100 copies of which were printed for the use of the 
schools at. Cotta. Other portions of the Scriptures were successively issued, and in 1833 the New 
Testament was completed at press, followed in 1834 by an edition of the Old Testament, printed at the 
expense of the Church Missionary Society. An edition of 3000 copies of the New Testament has 
since been printed at the expense of the same society. This translation, which is generally distinguished 
as the " Cotta version," differs from the version set forth by the Colombo Bible Society in the following 
particulars: — " 1. All the honorific terminations, that is, peculiar terminations of the verbs, nouns, 
and pronouns, indicative of respect, used in books in the high Cingalese dialect, are omitted in the 
Cotta version. 2. Those terminations of nouns, etc. in common use in the colloquial dialect are 
adopted. 3. One pronoun for the second person singular (there are twelve others in use in Cingalese 
books) is uniformly used throughout the Cotta version, whoever may be the person spoken to, human 
or divine. 4. Words in common use are invariably substituted for learned ones." 

The aid of the British and Foreign Bible Society has beeen extended to both these versions; and 
in 1838, 2000 copies of the Cotta version were ordered to be printed at their expense. The total 
number of both versions printed by the Colombo Auxiliary, from its commencement down to the 
present time, is stated to be not less than 40,000. Although considerable difference of opinion for a 
time existed among the missionaries respecting the use of honorific terminations, yet it was felt to be 
extremely desirable, on all sides, that there should be but one standard version of the Cingalese Scrip- 
tures; and the missionaries of various persuasions engaged in Ceylon having happily agreed upon the 
adoption of a common system, a revision committee was appointed in 1853, and has since been steadily 
engaged in the prosecution of its labours. The new translation in course of preparation under this 
committee had in 1857 advanced as far as the completion of the entire New Testament, an edition of 
which was at once put to press, and that of the Old Testament has made very considerable progress. 
There is every reason to believe therefore that no long time will now elapse ere the devoted agents of 
missionary labours in Ceylon will be in possession of a standard version of the Cingalese Bible. 
Meanwhile, it has been found necessary to print more than one edition of the Old Testament according 
to the previously existing versions. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

Ceylon is the venerated seat of Buddhism, and one of the chief depositaries of Buddhistic learning; 
yet in no country of the East has the distribution of the Scriptures been attended with more abundant 
manifestations of the Divine blessing. Many individual instances of conversion resulting from the 
perusal of the word of God in this language are dispersed throughout the records of the Bible, Church 
Missionary, and Wesleyan Societies. The following statement by Mr. Clough, one of the translators, 
shows the rapid progress of truth through the length and breadth of the island : — " The Bible in Ceylon 
is working a great change in the views and feelings of the heathen. Formerly the priests and others 
felt but little at its circulation ; but since the people have got a more extensive supply, and the effect 
of their reading is become apparent, the priests have taken the alarm, and have endeavoured to thwart 
the circulation. But the matter has gone too far, and this they now see; for in our schools in the 
southern part of Ceylon we have, by the blessing of God, raised up in the midst of the population not 
less than 30,000 native Christian readers, who do read, and will read, in spite of the opposition of the 



150 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

heathen." And in late reports received from Ceylon, the Rev. Mr. Gogerly writes: — "The number 
of Cingalese readers is increasing daily ; there is much more of a spirit of inquiry than was formerly 
apparent, and a greater willingness to read the word of God. In some instances, especially about Marotto, 
even Eoman Catholics apply for the New Testament. Vital Christianity has not spread among the 
people so much as we desire; yet, in the Wesleyan body alone, nearly 1000 sincere Christian men and 
women, without enumerating their children and family connections, besides the members of other 
sections of the church, daily receive instruction in the Holy Scriptures." 



MALDIYIAN. 

The Maldives are a chain of islands, supposed to be about 1200 in number, in the Indian Ocean, 
extending between the first degree of south, and the 7th of north, latitude, and between the 72nd and 
73rd degrees of east longitude. They are of coralline formation, and many of them are little else than 
reefs. The amount of their population is not known with any accuracy, but it has been estimated at 
between 150,000 and 200,000. The natives are generally described as a timid and inoffensive race, 
of dark colour, and rather short in person. They are expert sailors, and carry on considerable com- 
mercial intercourse with various places on the coasts of Ceylon, Malabar, and other parts of India; 
besides visiting, for like purposes, more distant localities, from the shores of the Red Sea in one 
direction to those of Sumatra in the other. They are under the rule of a native Sultan, who pays an 
annual tribute to the British government in Ceylon, and are stated to be followers of the Mohammedan 
religion. 

The Maldivian language is a very mixed one, and contains a far greater number of Cingalese, 
Hindustani, Sanscrit, and Arabic words, than of Malay, among the dialects of which some have wished 
to class it. Dr. Leyden considered that it bears a distant relation to Cingalese. The Maldivians have 
two alphabets of their own, one very peculiar in form, and another which to a certain degree resembles 
the Persian alphabet in name and form. 

The Four Gospels were translated into Maldivian by Dr. Leyden, who presented the MS. to the 
Calcutta Bible Society. The death of that eminent scholar arrested the farther progress of the version, 
but the native whom he had employed in making the translation was retained at Serampore. A fount 
of types was cast for the purpose of printing the Gospels, but through some cause now unknown, no 
portion of the version appears at any time to have passed through the press. 



CLASS IIL-INDO-EUBOPEAN LANGUAGES. 



C. CELTIC FAMILY. 



WELSH. 

SPECIMENS, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 12. 



SALESBUEY'S VEESION'. 

London, Folio, 1567. 

g$ g bEchrac gbb oetrtj g 
©air, a'r ©air oebb g ggb 
a ©uto, a'r ©air fttonin 
oetiti Euro. 2 5^inn OEbb 
gn g toecfirae ggb a ©uro. 
3 ©11 a fonaetfjpfogt trrog 'r 
©air bronco, ac rbbbaro ng 
SrmaEtfjpcogt tint a'r a ron= 
aEtftpfogt. 4 gnbbaro gbb 
0£titi bgfcogt, a'r igrogt orbb 
'okuni bgnion. 5 &'r gok= 
uni a bgrogn gn g tgtogl= 
Irocfj, a'r tgtoglirocft nib oebb 
gn Et arnggfirrb. 6 gbb 
tietjlr gror a bbanbonEStt g 
gan ©bubo, a' ei ento oetitr 
Eoan. 7 f^ron a bbacth gn 
tcstiolacth, g bEstiolaEtlju 
o'r gokuni, gn g EhrrbEnt 
oil trrogbbam. 8 |igb zfe 
OEbb g gokuni fjronro, Eitftr 
e ooanfonesit g bEstiolaEthu 
o'r gokuni. 9 f£jijfcmbB oebb 
g groir 'okuni g sggn gakuo 
pop bgn 'sgn gn bguot ir 
bgb. 10 gn g bgb got oeoo 
Ef, a'r igo a tonacthprogt 
trrogbbaro zi : a'r fagti ngb 
abnabu bbim o Janata. 
11 &t gr Ei='bbaro g bun g 
baEth, a'r Ei='bbaro ghun ng 
'a bOErignESont Ef. 12 <&' 
EhgnniuEr act bErbgnksont 
cf, rhocg g=bbrcgnt btaint 
g bet gn bEibion t Dburo, 
Sff ir sarol a meant gn g 
ffinfo ef, 



DE. W. MOEGAN'S VEESION. 
Zondon, Folio, 1588. 

gift, g becftrcuab gr oebb g 
gair, a'r gair oeoo ggb a 
lluta, a lluro cebb g gair. 
2 f^ron oebb gn g becfjreuab 
ggb a ©ufo. 3 ftrrogbbo 
Ef g gtonacthptogb pob pettr, 
ac hebbba Ef nt ronaEb bim 
a'r a mnaEthprogb. J^.gnb= 
"aa Ef gr oEbb bgfcogb, a'r 
faghigb OEbb okuni bgnion. 
5 & r gokuni a krogrchobb 
gn g tgrogllroch, a'r tgrogk 
Imcl) nib OEbb gn ei antggf= 
frEb. 6 gr gboEbb gror 
b3Ebi Ei anfon obbi forth 
©buro, a'i Enbi loan. 
7/ f^bm a bbactft gn bES= 
tt'olaetfj, fel g testtolaetfje zfz 
am g golEuni, fel g crEbE 
parob ttrogbbo Ef. 8 && 
zie OEbb g gokuni ftronnto, 
citfjr i bEStioIactftu ant g 
gokuni. 9 [f^ronnro] OEbb 
g grotr okuni, gr hron sgbb 
gn gakuo pob bgn a'r, g 
sgbb gn bgfob i'r bgb. 
10 gn g bgb gr OEbb zU, 
a'r bgb a ronaEthpcogb trfa= 
gbbo rf : a'r bgb nib abnabu 
Ef. U %t zi Eibbo zi bun g 
baEth EfE, a'i Eibbo zi 
bun ni's brcbgnniasant Ef. 
12 ©nb cgnnifcr a'r a'i 
bErbgnniasant Ef, EfE a rob= 
bes ibbgnt allu i fob gn Uu 
bion i Dburo, [sef ] i'r sarol 
a grEbsnt gn zi Euro Ef, 



BISHOP PAEET'S VEESION. 
London, Folio, 1620. 

g$i g becfrrEuab gr orbb g 
©air, a'r ©air OEbb ggb a 
©uro, a Duto oebb g ©air. 
2 $?ron OEbb gn g bEcfj= 
rraab ggb a Dura. 3 2tr= 
rogbbo Ef g gronaEthpfcogb 
pob pEth ; ac ijEbbbo Ef, ni 
bmaEthprogb bint a'r a ron= 
aEtfjptogb. \ gnbbo Ef gr 
OEbb bgfcogb, a'r bgiugb oebb 
okuni bgnion : 5 %\ go= 
kuni sgbb gn Ikiogrrbu gn 
g tgbjgllbjcb, a'r tgbjgllmcb 
nib oebb gn zi antggffrcb. 
6 gr gboebb gffir toEbi zi 
anfon obbi fortfj ©bufco, a'i 
cnroloan: Zl^banabbaettj 
gn bgstiolaEtb, feX g tgstio= 
IaEtbEi ant g golcuni, iz\ g 
crcbai pafcob trtogbbo rf. 

8 i@,ib EfE OEbb g gokuni, 
citftr [EfE a anfonasib] fel g 
tgstiolaetifiai am g gokuni. 

9 p^bmgboEbbggbrirokuni, 
gr Jjton sgbb gn gokuo pob 
bgn a'r g sgbb gn bgfob i'r 
bgb. 10 gng bgb gr OEbb 
Efc, a'r frpjb a ranactfjptogb 
trtogbbo cf; a'r h^t) nib 
abnabu £f, U %t zi Eibbo 
zi f)un g baEt^, a'r Eibbo 
Ei |)un nt bbErbgniasant Ef. 
12 ©nb cgnnifcr ag a'i bEr= 
bgniasant Ef, EfE a robbES 
ibbgnt allu i fob gn fEibion 
t ifburo, [sEf] i'r sabol a 
grsbant gn zi cnto Ef. 



BEITISH & F. BIBLE SOCIETY, 
London, 16mo., 1859. 

YN y dechreuad yr oedd y 
Gair, a'r Gair oedd gyd a 
Duw, a Duw oedd y Gair. 
2 Hwn oedd yny dechreuad 
gyd a. Duw. 3 Trwyddo ef 
y gwnaethpwyd pob peth ; 
ac hebddo ef ni wnaeth- 
pwyddim a'r a wnaethpwyd. 
4 Ynddo ef yr oedd by wyd ; 
a'r bywyd oedd oleuni dyn- 
ion. 5 A'r goleuni sydd yn 
llewyrchu yn y tywyllwch ; 
a'r tywyllwch nid oedd yn 
ei amgyffred. 6 Yr ydoedd 
gwr wedi ei anfon oddi 
wrth Dduw, a'i enw loan. 
7 Hwn a ddaeth yn dys- 
tiolaeth, fel y tystiolaethai 
am y Goleuni, fel y credai 
pawb trwyddo ef. 8 Nid 
efe oedd y Goleuni, eithr 
efe a anfonasid fel y tys- 
tiolaethai am y Goleuni. 
9 Hwn ydoedd y gwir 
Oleuni, yr hwn sydd yn 
goleuo pob dyn a'r y sydd 
yn dyfod i'r byd. 10 Yn 
y byd yr oedd efe, a'r byd 
a wnaethpwyd trwyddo ef; 
a'r byd nid adnabu ef. 
11 At ei eiddo ei hun y 
daeth, a'r eiddo ei hun nis 
derbyniasant ef. 12 Ond 
cynnifer ag a'i derbynias- 
ant ef, efe a roddes iddynt 
allu i fod yn feibion i 
Dduw, sef i'r sawl a gre- 
dant yn ei enw ef : 



I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 
The Celts, or KeXrol or KeXrai, were a people of the origin of which nothing positive is known. 
They occupied a great part of Western Europe, perhaps in times antecedent to the invasion of Indo- 
Germanic nations. 



152 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES [Class III. 

The very name Celt is of uncertain etymology. Ammian derives it from the king, Kelta or Celta; 
Leibnitz from the German gelt or geld, money; Mezerai, from the British gall or gault, a forest; 
Pelloutier from the Tudesk wallen, to wander; Latour-d'Auvergne, from goel or gcell, yellow, alluding 
to the light hair of the Galli, whom Bochart identifies with Dodanim (for Rhodanim) of Gen. x. But 
the name Celt may possibly come, as Camden says, from gwalth, a head of hair, coma, and gwalthog, 
comatus: from whence KeXral, Takdrai, or TdWoo, Galli or Gauls; the Gcedil, Coedil or Keill, and in 
pi. Keilt or Keiltiet, or Gaels, Gozdels or Guidhelod, as the Irish call themselves and their tongue. 

The language called Celtic is divided into two principal branches, viz.: 1. the Irish or Hibernian, 
from which the present Irish or Erse, and the Gaelic of Scotland, are derived: 2. the British, to which 
the primitive Gaelic or Gallic was allied, and from which are derived the Welsh, the Cornish, and the 
Armoric or language of Brittany. The Manks dialect is peculiar to the Isle of Man, and is a corruption 
of the Irish branch of the Celtic tongue. 

The Welsh, sometimes called the British language, on account of its former predominance in Britain, 
is then a dialect of the Celtic, as we have said, once diffused throughout the greater part of Europe, 
although now confined to certain sections of the British Isles and to a portion of Brittany. According 
to the census of 1851, the population of Wales and of Monmouthshire amounted to 1,163,251; but a 
large proportion of this population, particularly in Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire, consists of 
English and Irish immigrants. It is believed that, throughout the whole of Wales, the natives of the 
principality to whom the Welsh language is vernacular do not number above 700,000 individuals; 
an amount of population which is less by one half than that of either Yorkshire or Lancashire. In 
estimating, however, the number of individuals by whom Welsh is spoken, it must be taken into account, 
that from fifty to seventy thousand Welshmen are settled in various towns of England, particularly in 
London, Liverpool, Manchester, Chester, Birmingham, and Bristol: there are, besides, a considerable 
number in the United States. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

One grand distinctive feature which runs through the Welsh, and all the other dialects of the 
Celtic language, is the incompleteness of the grammatical system of inflections, and the general rough- 
ness of articulation, as compared with the complex and elaborate systems of the Sanscrit, Teutonic, 
and other families of languages. This circumstance, viewed in connection with the generally received 
opinion, that Europe was first colonised by tribes of Celtic origin, leads to the inference that the sepa- 
ration of the Celtic family from the parent stock in Asia took place at a period anterior to that in which 
the language then common to the Asian race had attained its full development. The study of the 
Celtic dialects has, therefore, a bearing more or less direct upon all questions connected with the early 
history and origin of nations; for the remarkable analogies still preserved by those dialects with other 
families and classes of languages, lead us back to the most remote epochs that can possibly be inves- 
tigated by the aid of comparative philology. In Celtic may still be traced some faint indications of 
the ancient relationship, if not of the original identity, of the Indo-European and Shemitic classes. 
The Celtic, like Hebrew and other Shemitic languages, has two sets of personal pronouns; namely, 
the full or unmutilated forms used chiefly in the nominative case, and the abbreviated forms employed 
in construction.; the latter often found in conjunction with a preposition, so as to make but one word. 
The Celtic pronouns also point to the solution of a problem that has long occupied the attention of 
philologists, for it has been satisfactorily ascertained that the personal terminations of Welsh verbs are 
neither more nor less than a series of pronominal suffixes; so that, as Dr. Pritchard has justly observed, 
the long-debated question respecting the origin of these terminations may now be considered as set at 
rest, so far, at least, as the Celtic is concerned. In the number of its tenses in the active voice, and 
especially in the possession of a passive voice, the Celtic dialects are richer than any of the Teutonic 
languages except the Moeso-Gothic, which alone retains a remnant of its ancient passive form, and 
that only in the present tense of the indicative and subjunctive moods. In the laws of euphony 



Class III.] WELSH. 153 

regulating the permutation of consonants when brought together in composition, the Celtic offers 
many points of resemblance to other languages of its class; but with this distinctive peculiarity, that 
while in Greek and in most of the Indo-European languages one consonant has no power in modifying 
another, except when joined thereto in one and the same word, the Celtic alone resembles the San- 
scrit in the modifying influence possessed by the final and initial consonants of words in sequence. 
The principles upon which these changes in the consonants of distinct words depend are, in Sanscrit, 
comprised in what is technically called the law of Sandhi, and are purely euphonic in their nature. 
In Welsh and its cognate dialects, on the contrary, these characteristic changes of initial consonants 
seem to have a more especial reference to the meaning of the preceding word, or to some rule of 
grammatical construction ; yet there are many cases in which the alteration of the initial letter seems 
in Welsh to depend mainly, if not solely, upon euphonic principles. The Welsh differs in several 
respects from the other Celtic dialects : it is derived immediately from the Cymric branch of the Celtic 
language, anciently spoken throughout Germany to the ocean, whereas Gaelic, Erse, and Manks, probably 
owe their origin to the ancient language of Celtic Gaul. The Welsh is remarkable, like the Eolic 
Greek, for its habitual substitution of hard palatal and guttural consonants for the soft palatal and 
sibilant letters of the Sanscrit in such radicals or elementary words as are common to both languages. 
In this peculiarity it is followed in some degree by the Teutonic languages, although they often incline 
more strongly to the introduction of an aspirate. The great number of Latin words which enter into 
the Welsh vocabulary may in part be accounted for by the long supremacy of the Romans in Britain: 
to which cause may also be traced the adoption, by the Welsh, of the Roman characters, which took 
place at an early period, as is evident from ancient inscriptions and legends on coins. To account, 
however, for the numerous Celtic words which are to be detected in the Latin and Greek languages, 
we must resort to the hypothesis that the Umbri, the Osci, and perhaps some of the other primitive 
colonists of Italy and Southern Europe, were of Celtic descent. In many words, of which Lhuyd 
gives a detailed list (Arch. Brit. p. 269), the Celtic and Greek approximate so closely as to leave no 
room for doubt respecting the identity of their origin, while the corresponding terms in Latin evidently 
proceed from an entirely distinct source. Such words as in Latin commence with sc, sp, or st, have 
the letter y prefixed in Welsh (e. g. Lat. scelere, Wei. ysceler; Lat. spiritus, Wei. yspryd; Lat. status, 
Wei. ystad); a similar peculiarity is exhibited by the French, and severa Eastern languages, 
such as the Arabic, Hindustani, Bengalee, which also insert a vowel before Latin or foreign words 
commencing with these letters, as in espece, from Lat. species; esperer, from Lat. sperare, etc. 

The form of conjugation in the Welsh verbs bears affinity to that of the Latin, as will appear by 
exhibiting some of the forms of a verb common to both languages : e. g. Wei. canu, to sing, Lat. cano, 
©r canto; Wei. canaf, or canav, Lat. cantavi; Wei. canaist, Lat. cantavisti, contracted cantasti; Wei. 
canodd, L,at. canit; Wei. imperative, caned, Lat. future, canet; Wei. canasom, Lat. contr. cantassemus, 
for cantavissemus. The form of the second person plural is peculiar to the Welsh: canasoch, you sang; 
the ch is derived from chwi, you; a personal pronoun used in Welsh as a distinct word; Wei. canasent, 
Lat. cantassent. It appears from these examples that the Welsh has some analogy with the Latin 
(though not derived from it like the Italian), as far, at least, as the conjugations are concerned: for 
the Italian terminations deviate from the Latin as much as the Welsh, and nearly in the same manner, 
with the exception of the second person plural already noticed: as -amus in Latin is -amo in Italian, 
and in Welsh -om, as in the above examples. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 
The earliest mention of a Welsh version of any part of the Scriptures occurs in an epistle prefixed 
by Dr. Richard Davis, bishop of St. David's, to the first printed edition of the Welsh New Testament 
(that of 1567), in which he states that there was a version of the Pentateuch extant about the year 
1527, and that he himself saw a copy of the work in the possession of a learned gentleman, a relative 
of his own : he does not, however, give any information respecting the translator, or the period at 



154 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

which the version was executed. 1 Several short detached portions of Scripture were translated into 
Welsh, and printed during the reign of Edward VI., probably for the use of the Liturgy or Service 
Book compiled during that period. In 1562, a law was enacted by parliament enforcing the translation 
of the entire Scriptures into the Welsh language, under the superintendence of the Bishops of St. Asaph, 
Bangor, St. David, Llandaff, and Hereford. In consequence of this enactment, William Salesbury, 
a Welshman of liberal education, and a good linguist of the age, was appointed by the bishops to 
take the oversight of the projected edition; and by him the entire New Testament was translated, 
except the Book of Eevelation, which is ascribed to Huet, a chantor or prsecentor of St. David's, and 
five of the Epistles (2 Timothy, Hebrews, St. James, and the two Epistles of St. Peter), which were 
translated by the above-named Dr. Bichard Davis, bishop of the same place. The whole version was 
made from the Greek, collated with the Latin : its general fidelity has never been disputed, but it is 
faulty in style and orthography. It is divided, like our present Testaments, into chapters, but has no 
distinction of verses except in some books toward the end. It was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth, and 
was printed in 1567 in London, at the expense of Humphrey Toy. The edition, which consisted of 
500 copies, was in quarto, and printed in black letter. 

More than twenty years elapsed after the publication of the New Testament, before a version 
of the Old Testament was bestowed upon the people of Wales. This boon was at length conferred by 
Dr. William Morgan, originally vicar of Llanrhaiadr-mochnant, in Denbighshire, and raised in 1595 
to the see of Llandaff, and in 1601 to that of St. Asaph. With the aid of several eminent scholars, he 
prepared a version of the Old Testament from the Hebrew, and revised Salesbury 's version of the New 
Testament. He was not nominated to this important undertaking, but engaged in it spontaneously. 
In 1588 he printed both Testaments, with the Apocrypha, in one volume folio. The work was divided 
into verses throughout, and, like the former edition of the New Testament, was dedicated to Queen 
Elizabeth. This edition also consisted of 500 copies, and was printed in black letter: a copy, presented 
by the translator himself, may be seen at Westminster in the library of the dean and chapter, and 
another in the library of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Dr. Morgan afterwards subjected the 
New Testament to a second revisal, and the corrected version was ready for the press in 1604, when he 
died : it does not appear to have been ever printed. The important work which had occupied so many 
years of this prelate's life, was not discontinued after his decease. His successor in the see of St. Asaph, 
Dr. Richard Parry, manifested equal zeal in the preparation of a faithful version of the Welsh Scriptures. 
Of his own accord, and in concert with his chaplain, the celebrated Dr. John Davies, Dr. Parry 
undertook a complete revision of the Old and New Testaments, in the course of which he introduced 
so many corrections and alterations, that the work is deservedly regarded as a new and independent 
version, rather than as an amended translation. It has always been held in such high estimation that 
it has been used as the text of all succeeding editions; and the few variations that from time to time 
may have been made from it, are chiefly of an orthographical nature : it is, in fact, the standard 
version of the Welsh Scriptures. It was first published in 1620, by Norton and Hill, his Majesty's 
printers in London, and contained a dedication to King James. The copy which was presented to 
the king is now in the British Museum. The edition, however, only consisted of 500 copies: like the 
two previous editions, it was printed in black letter and in folio, and the total want of copies of the 
Scriptures printed in a more accessible form was at this period severely felt in Wales. In consequence 
of this lamentable deficiency, some noble-minded citizens of London combined together to furnish a 
portable edition of the Welsh Bible at their own expense. Their edition, which was published in 1630 
in London, was in small octavo, and contained, besides the Old and New Testaments, the Apocrypha, 

i A Welsh version of the Bible was preserved in MS. at Celydd If an, near Bridgend in Glamorgan : it appears 
to have been executed from the Latin Vulgate, by an ancestor of the family residing in that place, about the year 
1470. A considerable portion of the MS. was still extant a few years ago, though no trace of it can be found at 
present. It may have been a MS. of the Pentateuch of this version to which Dr. R. Davis referred. We may, how- 
ever, also mention that it has been stated that the translation of the Pentateuch into English, by William Tyndale, 
was the basis of a Welsh version. 



Class III.] WELSH. 155 

the Book of Common Prayer, and a metrical version of the Psalms. Prys, archdeacon of Merioneth, 
was the translator of this Psalter, which is now used in the Welsh churches. Another metrical version 
of the Psalms, by Captain Middleton, had been printed by Salesbury in London as early as 1603. 
The other principal editions of the Scriptures, issued during the 17th and 18th centuries, may be 
briefly enumerated as follows: — 

1647. The New Testament in 12mo., without headings to the chapters; 1000 copies. 

1648. Second edition of the Metrical Psalms, by Archdeacon Prys, in 12mo. 

1654. The whole Bible in 8vo.; 6000 copies. This is sometimes called Cromwell's Bible. 

1654. A separate edition of the New Testament, also in 8vo., 1000 copies; printed in larger 
type than the Bible of the same date. 

1672. The New Testament with the Psalms, both in prose and metre. This edition was pub- 
lished by means of subscriptions collected in Wales and England: it was printed in 8vo., 
and consisted of 2000 copies. 

1678. The whole Bible with the Book of Common Prayer, in 8vo., printed in London. Of 
this edition, which consisted of 8000 copies, 1000 copies were distributed gratis among 
the poor, and the rest were sold at a price below the cost of printing. Mr. Thomas 
Gouge, a man of noted benevolence, was the principal promoter of this edition : it passed 
through the press under the care of his friend, the Rev. Stephen Hughes, who formerly 
held the living of Mydrim, in Caermarthenshire, but was ejected at the passing of the 
Act of Uniformity. The corrections in orthography and punctuation, introduced by 
Mr. Hughes, were numerous and important; and this edition, though not without its 
defects, has in consequence been held in high estimation. 

1690. Bible in 8vo., 10,000 copies. This edition was published by the Rev. David Jones, the 
ejected minister of Llandisilio near Narberth, under the patronage of Lord Wharton, 
and with the assistance of some ministers and citizens of London. 

1690. Bible in folio, 1000 copies, printed at Oxford, for the use of churches. This is sometimes 
called Bishop Lloyd's Bible, because he is believed to have had some hand in the pub- 
lication, and to have supplied the chronology and references. It was printed under the 
superintendence of Mr. Pierce Lewis, a gentleman of Anglesea. This was the first 
edition printed in Roman characters ; it varies from preceding editions in the orthography 
of many words. 

1718. Bible in 8vo., 10,000 copies, printed in London. This is often called "Moses Williams' 
Bible," because that gentleman, then vicar of Dyfynog, in Brecknockshire, super- 
intended the publication. This edition was the first published under the patronage of 
the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: it has the Apocrypha, the Psalms in 
metre, some hymns and forms of prayer; also marginal references and the contents of 
chapters. 

1727. Bible in 8vo., 5000 copies, London. This edition was published under the same patronage 
as the last, but without the references or the headings of the chapters : on account of 
this omission it was never so highly valued or sought after by the people. 

1746. Bible in 8vo., 15,000 copies, Cambridge. This was the third edition brought out under 
the superintendence of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. It contains 
nearly all that was printed in the edition of 1718, and passed through the press under 
the care of Mr. R. Morris, of the Navy Office, a distinguished Welsh scholar. In this 
and the following edition the orthography of Bishop Lloyd's Bible was adopted. 

1752. Bible in 8vo., 15,000 copies, London. This, like the edition of 1746, was printed under 
the superintendence of Mr. Morris, at the expense of the Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge : these two editions cost the sum of £6000. 

1752. New Testament and Psalms in 8vo., 2000 copies, London: printed from the edition of 



156 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

1672 by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Several reprints from this 
edition have been made at Shrewsbury. 

1769. Bible in 8vo., 20,000 copies, London: published by the Society for Promoting Christian 

Knowledge. The orthography is that of Bishop Lloyd's Bible. 

1770. Bible in quarto, Caermarthen, with notes by the Rev. Peter Williams. This has been 

reprinted at least twelve different times at Caermarthen, and similar editions have issued 
from other Welsh presses. The same Bible has been printed in folio size, with plates, 
by Fisher and Co., London. 

1789. Bible in folio, London. This was a small edition, printed for the use of churches by the 

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 

1790. Bible in 12mo., with Mr. John Canne's References, printed at Trevecca, in Brecknockshire, 

under the superintendence of Mr. Peter Williams. An edition of the same Bible was 
subsequently printed at Caermarthen. 
1799. Bible in 8vo., 10,000 copies; and New Testament printed separately (also in 8vo ), 2000 
copies. These editions were published under the care of Rev. John Roberts at Oxford, 
by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 

The editions above enumerated, with the exception of 10,000 copies of the New Testament in 
various sizes, printed in the year 1800 at Shrewsbury, were all that appeared before the formation of 
the British and Foreign Bible Society. At the close of the last, and commencement of the present 
century, great scarcity of the vernacular Scriptures prevailed in Wales. The large edition of 1799 
was no sooner published than sold, and the last copy was disposed of before one fourth part of the 
country was supplied. Several urgent applications were made to the Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge, entreating them to grant farther supplies of the Welsh Scriptures, but the state of their 
funds debarred the Society from giving efficient assistance. At this juncture, when no aid seemed 
attainable from any existing source, the Rev. Thomas Charles, of Bala, formerly a clergyman of the 
established church, but then officiating in connection with the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, suggested 
the idea of forming a great printing society among Christians, for the purpose of supplying the prin- 
cipality with Bibles. Several influential individuals, both Churchmen and Dissenters, co-operated in 
carrying out this scheme, which, after being farther developed, and receiving a more comprehensive 
character, ultimately resulted in the formation of the British and Foreign Bible Society. As the 
scarcity of Bibles in Wales had thus been the proximate cause of the origin of this noble institution, 
so one of the first measures of the Society, when established, was an attempt to meet the urgent 
demands of the Welsh people for copies of the Scriptures. The Society resolved in 1804 to print an 
edition of the Welsh Bible and Testament on stereotype plates : the number ordered was 20,000 Bibles 
in 12mo., with 5000 additional Testaments in a larger type. The text selected was the Oxford edition 
of 1799, and the proffered services of Mr. Charles were accepted in revising and preparing a copy for 
the press. While this revision was being vigorously carried on, a communication, emanating from 
the Rev. J. Roberts, rector of Tremeirchion, Flintshire, was conveyed, through the Society for 
Promoting Christian Knowledge, to Lord Teignmouth, the president of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, impeaching the accuracy of certain orthographical alterations introduced by Mr. Charles. 
A sub-committee was appointed to investigate the validity of these complaints ; and after a lengthened 
controversy it was proved, that though Mr. Charles had in his revised copy ventured on the adoption 
of certain orthographical changes, chiefly in accordance with the system of Dr. Pughe, yet that he was 
guiltless of innovation so far as the general sense or meaning of the sacred text was concerned. The 
expediency of the alterations in orthography adopted by Mr. Charles formed the next subject of 
inquiry; and as the sub-committee, from their imperfect acquaintance with the language, felt them- 
selves incompetent to decide the question, the matter was referred to the arbitration of the Rev. 
Walter Davies, vicar of Meifod, Montgomeryshire. This gentleman declared his opinion to be in 



Class III.] WELSH. 157 

favour of the old system of orthography, which the Society accordingly determined to adopt in their 
forthcoming edition; and it must be mentioned to the honour of Mr. Charles, that he liberally gave 
his services to the correction and revision of the text by 'which his own was superseded. In 1805 the 
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge announced their intention of printing 20,000 copies of 
the Welsh Bible from the text of 1746; afterwards, however, preferring the text of 1752. To avoid 
the serious evil of discrepancy between their versions, the British and Foreign Bible Society resolved 
that they likewise would adopt this latter text; and their edition, prepared from this standard, left the 
press in 1806. Including this their first edition, the number of copies issued at successive intervals 
by the British and Foreign Bible Society from the year 1806 to the year 1860 may be briefly stated 
as follows: — 

Bibles 499,635 

Testaments ...... 563,130 

Diglots, Welsh and English . . . 42,936 



Total . . . 1,105,701 

Other large editions besides those above described have been published by the Society for Promoting 
Christian Knowledge, but the exact number cannot be ascertained; of these the principal was that 
printed at Oxford in 1809, for which collations were made from previous editions, typographical errors 
were corrected, and the orthography of proper names was restored according to the text of 1620. 
More recently still, in 1853, a large folio edition has been printed at Oxford for the use of Welsh 
churches. The American Bible Society completed in 1858 an edition of the Scriptures in Welsh, 
together with a Welsh and English Testament in parallel columns. 

IV. — FACTS EELATIVE TO THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

The manner in which the Bible Society's first edition of the New Testament was received in Wales 
is thus described by an eye-witness: — "When the arrival of the cart was announced which carried 
the first sacred load, the Welsh peasants went out in crowds to meet it, welcomed it as the Israelites 
did the ark of old, drew it into the town, and eagerly bore off all the copies as rapidly as these could 
be dispersed. The young people were to be seen spending the whole night in reading. Labourers 
carried some with them to the fields, that they might enjoy them during the intervals of their labour, and 
lose no opportunity of becoming acquainted with their sacred truths." The increase in the issues and 
circulation of the Scriptures in Wales since that period is highly encouraging. Adding the circulation 
of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and that of private printers, to the number issued 
by the British and Foreign Bible Society, as stated above, the total number of Welsh Bibles and 
Testaments printed at different times, and in different places, is probably little short of a million and 
a half copies. Those circulated by the British and Foreign Bible Society alone, as the Table shows, 
number considerably upwards of A million. 



158 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 



GAELIC. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Anns an toiseach bha am Focal, agus bha 'm Focal maille ri Dia, agus b'e 'm Focal 
Dia. 2 Bha e so air tus maille ri Dia. 3 Rinneadh ma h-uile nithe leis ; agus as eugmhais 
cha d'rinneadh aon ni a rinneadh. 4 Annsan bha beatha, agus b'i a bheatha solus dhaoine. 

5 Agus tha 'n solus a' soillseachadh anns an dorchadas, agus cha do ghabh an dorchadas e. 

6 Chuireadh duine o Dhia, d'am b'ainm Eoin. 7 Thainig esan mar f hianuis, chum fianuis 
a thoirt mu'n t-solus, chum gu'n creideadh na h-uile dhaoine tridsan. 8 Cha b'esan an 
solus sin, ach chuireadh e chum gu tugadh e fianuis mu'n t-solus. 9 B'e so an solus 
fior, a ta soillseachadh gach uile dhuine tha teachd chum an t-saoghail. 10 Bha e anns 
an t-saoghal, agus rinneadh an saoghal leis, agus cha d'aithnich an saoghal e. n Thainig 
e dh'ionnsuidh a dhucha fein, agus cha do ghabh a mhuinntir fein ris. 12 Ach a mheud 
's a ghabh ris., thug e dhoibh cumhachd a bhi 'nan cloinn do Dhia, eadhon dhoibhsan a 
to creidsinn 'na ainm : 13 A bha air an gineamhuin, cha'n ann o f huil, no o thoil na feola, 
no o thoil duine, ach o Dhia. 14 Agus rinneadh am Focal 'na fheoil, agus ghabh e com- 
hnuidh 'nar measg-ne, (agus chunnaic sinn a ghlbir, mar ghlbir ao-n-ghin Mhic an Athar) 
Ian grais agus firinn. 

I. — GEOGEAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Gaelic is spoken in the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland, and pervades a region not 
much less in extent than the half of all North Britain. The people to whom this language is ver- 
nacular has, in round numbers, been estimated at 400,000 individuals. Antiquarians are not agreed 
as to whether the progenitors of this population were the ancient Britons, or merely colonists from 
Ireland. Be that as it may, from the original keilt or keilit (Celts or Gaels) and dun, fortress, castle, 
comes probably the name Caledonia. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The characteristics of the Gaelic are essentially the same as those of the Erse dialect. One point 
of difference however is, that the Gaelic verbs, unlike the Irish, possess but two simple tenses, the 
preterite and the future. The substantive verbs " bi," to be, and "Is," lam, form perhaps the only 
exception to the rule, as they both possess a present tense: such forms as " Creidim," I believe, 
" Guidheam," I pray, now occasionally to be heard in the Highlands, do not properly belong to the 
Gaelic, but seem to have been introduced from Ireland. In this singular defect of possessing no 
simple present tense, the Gaelic (like the Welsh, the Manks, ,and the extinct dialect of Cornwall) 
resembles the Hebrew and Shemitic class of languages, to which, as it has already been observed, the 
Celtic class makes several notable approximations. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The venerable Bede informs us that, in his time, the Scriptures were read in Great Britain " in 
five dialects then vulgarly used, viz. those of the Angles, Britons, Scots, Picts, and Latins." But if a 
version of Scripture in the language we call Gaelic really existed in Bede's time, it is certain that no 



Class III.] GAELIC. 159 

fragment of it is now extant; nor has any allusion to its existence been made by any other early writer. 
Scotland, indeed, appears to have been left longer than almost any other part of Europe unprovided 
with a version of the Bible in the vernacular language. In 1686, 200 copies of the Irish Bible, 
printed, as is subsequently mentioned, at the expense of Mr. Boyle, were transmitted to Scotland for 
the use of the Highlanders, and owing to the similarity between the two dialects, were found to be 
generally intelligible. This edition was, however, printed in the Irish character, with which the 
Highlanders were but imperfectly acquainted, whereas they had been taught to read, although they 
could not understand, English. For their benefit, therefore, an edition of the Irish Bible was issued 
in Koman characters in 1690: the work was printed in London under the superintendence of the 
Eev. Eobert Kirk, minister of Aberfoyle, and was promoted chiefly by the Kev. James Kirkwood, 
of Astwick, and assisted by Mr. Boyle. Another small edition of the Irish New Testament (consisting 
of about 500 copies) was published in Glasgow in 1754, but it was not till the year 1767 that a New 
Testament in the Gaelic tongue was provided for the Scotch Highlanders. For this important trans- 
lation, alike creditable to the venerable translator, and gratifying to all capable of understanding and 
appreciating it, Scotland was indebted to the Rev. James Stuart, of Killin: the work was published 
at the expense of the Society in Scotland for Promoting Christian Knowledge, assisted by a grant from 
the London Society. The first edition consisted of 10,000 copies in 12mo., and a larger edition of 
21,500 copies was issued by the same Society in 1796. 

Encouraged by the acceptableness of these editions, the next step of the Society was to obtain a 
Gaelic version of the Old Testament. Several ministers co-operated in this translation, which was made 
directly from the Hebrew text. To facilitate the work, the Old Testament was divided into four parts, 
two of which were allotted to the Rev. Dr. John Stuart, minister of Luss, the son of the learned translator 
of the New Testament. A third part, also, afterwards fell to his share, although it had in the first instance 
been executed by another hand. The remaining fourth part, consisting of the Prophetical Books from 
Isaiah to Malachi both inclusive, was translated by the Rev. Dr. Smith, of Campbeltown, and, on its 
completion, was found to differ altogether in style and execution from the other portion of the Bible 
translated by Dr. Stuart. The translation of Dr. Stuart was remarkable for its simplicity and its close 
adherence, so far as the idiom of the Gaelic language would permit, to the letter of the sacred text; 
whereas the Prophetical Books are translated in a style which is at once free and poetical, resembling 
in some respects Bishop Lowth's translation of Isaiah. The work was published in parts: the first 
part, containing the Pentateuch, appeared in 1783, and 5000 copies of the whole version were com- 
pleted at press in 1801, at the expense of the Society. In consequence of many complaints concerning 
the discrepancy in style between the prophetical and the other books, the Society resolved in their 
next edition, to subject the former to a thorough revision, that they might be rendered conformable 
to the other parts of the version. This plan was carried into effect in 1807, when an edition of 20,000 
copies of the Old together with the New Testament was printed at Glasgow, under the care of the 
Rev. Alexander Stewart, of Dingwall. Many opposed this version as fearing it would encourage the 
existence of the Gaelic language (which some desired to extinguish, as identified with Jacobitism). 
Dr. Johnson did much to encourage the version. One of his letters shows the deep interest which he 
took in the subject. 

In the meantime, forcible representations having been made to the British and Foreign Bible 
Society respecting the deplorable scarcity of copies of the Scriptures in the Highlands, and the 
inadequacy of the means employed for their supply, the Society agreed to furnish an edition of the 
Gaelic Bible, from the text adopted by the Scottish Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. 
This edition was published in London in 1807, nearly at the same time as the Edinburgh edition above 
noticed: it consisted of 20,000 Bibles and 10,000 Testaments. It was received with the utmost joy 
and gratitude by the Highlanders, but their demands for more copies still continued so urgent, that 
the British and Foreign Bible Society, from time to time, have issued other editions; and the 
total number of Gaelic Bibles and Testaments printed by them up to the year 1860, is 71,726 



160 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



[Class III. 



Bibles, and 82,999 Testaments. The last boon conferred by this Society on the Highlands was a 
Jubilee edition of 2000 copies of the entire Bible, with marginal references. The following list of 
editions published by other societies is given by Mr. Anderson : — 

1810. By Scottish Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge 10,000 Bibles, 12mo. 

1821. By ditto ditto ditto 10,000 Tests., 12mo. 

1827. By ditto ditto ditto 1,000 Bibles, 4to. 

1827. By ditto ditto ditto 2,000 Tests., 8vo. 

1828. By Edinburgh Bible Society 7,500 Bibles, 24mo. 

1828. By ditto 5,000 Tests., 24mo. 

1829. By ditto 10,000 Bibles, 12mo. 

1829. By ditto 5,000 Bibles, 8vo. 



IRISH. 



SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 12. 



[London, 1844.] 

21MM !*<*■ co|-ac bo bj ao BbfiiACAjt, "] bo bj At) 
BbftiACAfi a bpocAi|t <De, T bo be <Dja An 

B|VlAC<VJt. 

2 <Do bj ro aji cuf AbpocAift CJe. 

3 LejfeAi) a cA|b n<v b^le ne^ce bevncA ; *i 
3At) e nj bp\;l e|i)jb bevocA, bA nbeAitnA&. 

4 21r> rAi) bo bj beACA ; *] bob j ao beACA rolur 
i)A nbAo]oe. 

5 2t5ur roill^3i& ao rolur y\x) Ai) rA bojtcAbAr ; 
1 "I ! 1 3 AD An bojtcAbAf c\?5e e. 

6 'Do CMfieAb b\?oe 6 <Dbj*, bAjt b<v,|nn) 66|0. ; 

7 "CajO|C ad ce r° "X^l 1 f1 A&| )v?ti> bo cvm 50 
nbeAOAb ye y\'<\8\)v,\\ boo "Crolur, ]oi)uf 50 
5C|xe|bpibjr [cac] vile qijb. 

8 Mjo|t b&|reAT) An Solur ub, Acb [t>o cvfteAb 
e] ioi)vf 50 i)beAt)Ab re £JAbi)\?p| boo 'Grolur 
ub. 

9 <Do b& ro At) Solur pjuineAC, fojllrigeAr 
jac v;le b^oe bA bqj A|i a crAO^Al. 

10 <Do bj re &]\i a crAoJAl, ~\ cnjbreAO bo 
]t|i)eA& An r*°5 A ^3 A ^b t>iori A^qn ad rAog&l e, 

11 <D|ot)r v ;5e a cqbA f*ein cA^nic re, 1 njofi 
5AbAbA|t a &AO]ne p&in cvca e. 

12 2lcb An rb&ib bo g<xb cvca e, crj re crri)- 
ACbA b6|b bejc i)A sclojij A5 <Dja, [g&on] bon 
bfio|i)5 cpejbgr at) a A]nrpreAn '• 



[London, 1824.] 

Ann sa tosach do bhi an Bhriathar, agus do 
bin an Bhriathar a bhfochair De, agus do be Dia 
an Bhriathar, 

2 Do bhi so ar tils a bhfochair De. 

3 Leisean a taid na huile neithe deunta, agus 
gan 6 ni bhfuil einni deunta, da ndearnadh. 

4 Ann san do bhi beatha, agus dob i an bheatha 
solus na ndaoine : 

5 Agus soillsighidh an solus sin ann sa dorch- 
adas, agus 111'or ghabh an dorchadas chuige e\ 

6 Do cuireadh duine 6 Dhia, dar bhainm E6in : 

7 Tamic an te so mar fhiadhnuisi, do chum go 
ndeanadh se fiadhnuisi don tsolus, ionnus go 
gcreidfidis each uile thri'd. 

8 Nior bhesean an solus lid, achd do cuireadh 
e ionnus go ndeanadh se fiadhnuisi don tsolus 
ud. 

9 Do be so an solus firinneach shoillsigheas 
gach uile dhuine da dtig ar a tsaoghal. 

10 Do bhi se air a tsaoghal, agus trfdsean do 
rinneadh an sdoghal, achd nior aithin an saoghal e. 

11 Dionnsuighe a choda fein thainic se, agus 
nior ediabhadar a dhaoine fein chuca e. 

12 Achd an mheid do ghabh chuca e, tug se 
cumhachda dh6ibh bheith na gcloinn ag Dia, 
eadhon don droing chreideas ann a ainmsean. 



Ciass III.] IRISH. 161 

SPECIMEN OF THE IRISH OF MTJNSTEP. St. JOHN, Chap. i. v, 1 to 10. 

Anns A tosach do bhi an Briathar, agus do bhi an Briathar a bhfochair De, agus do 
b'e Dia an Briathar. 2 Do Bhi so air dtiiis a bhfochair De. 3 Is eisean do rin an uill 
nidh, agus gan e nior rineadh aon nidh da ndearnathas. 4 Is ann (fein) do bhi beatha, agus 
dob'i an bheatha (sin) solus na ndaoine. 5 Agus soillsigheann an solus (sin) annsa doiri- 
cheacht, agus nior ghaibh an doiricheacht chuige e. 6 Do cuireadh duineo Dhia, dar 
bhainim Eoin. 7 Thainigh an duine sin mar f hine, chum fine dheanadh adtaobh an 
t'Soluis, air nds go gereidfeadh an uill dhuine trid. 8 Nior bh' eisean an Solus lid, ach do 
cuireadh air an saoghal e chum fine dheana a dtaobh an t'Soluis ud. 9 Dob' e sin an 
Solus firinneach, do shoillsigheann an uill dhuine da dtagann air an saoghal. 10 Do bhi 
se ah an saoghal agus a se (fein) do rin an saoghal, ach nior aithin an saoghal e. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Except in large towns and their vicinity, the Erse or Irish language is still spoken more or less in 
almost every part of Ireland, but it prevails more especially in Munster and Connaught. There are no 
less than 600,000 individuals who can speak no other language. The English language has been 
partially acquired by about three millions of the native Irish, but so imperfectly that they are unable 
to receive religious instruction through its means. The entire population of the island, including 
English settlers and those familiar with the English language, amounted in 1841 to 8,175,000; but, 
as is well known, this number underwent a remarkable diminution within the ensuing ten years. The 
census of 1851 showed a total of only 6,515,794 persons; a reduction in the ratio of nearly twenty per 
cent. It had been computed, at the former of these periods, that, in round numbers, out of every 
hundred souls eighty-one were Roman Catholics, eleven belonged to the Anglican church, and eight 
were Protestant Dissenters. The proportionate number of Protestants has probably since undergone a 
slight increase. Yet, although Roman Catholicism has at present this preponderating influence, a pure 
form of Christianity existed in Ireland until the yoke of Popery was imposed upon it by England. 
This subversion of the ancient faith of the Irish people dates from the period when Pope Adrian IV., 
himself by birth an Englishman, bestowed on Henry II. of England the papal sanction for the annex- 
ation of the island to the British crown. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OP THE LANGUAGE. 

Although the Erse or Irish is now little known except as the vernacular of an illiterate population, 
it was once the language of literature and science. " The English Saxons," observes Camden, " anciently 
flocked to Ireland, as to the mart of sacred learning;" and the monuments of Irish philosophy, poetry, 
and history, have been handed down from the tenth, and in some instances, probably, from the sixth 
and seventh centuries. Erse belongs to the Gaelic branch of the Celtic language ; but in what country 
it originated is unknown, for Gaul, Spain, Scythia, Iran, and even Troy, have all laid claim to the 
honour of having first sent colonists to Ireland, and the question will probably never be decided. By 
Gaelic is understood not merely the Celtic dialect spoken in the Highlands of Scotland, but the tongue 
of the Gaedelodh, or Gaels, as the Irish call themselves. For the primitive Celtic is the ancient Irish, 
or Erse, or Gael-ic. 

It is, however, certain that this dialect of the Celtic has preserved its original purity from the 
period of its first predominance in Ireland, so that no elements which are not strictly Celtic can be 
detected in its composition. The few words of Teutonic origin occasionally to be met with in Erse 
may be ascribed to the influence of the Scoti, a tribe of Scandinavian or Belgic origin, who, about 
the time that the Romans quitted Britain, acquired so much power in Ireland that the country itself 
became known by the name of Scotia; which name it retained imtil the Scoti transferred it to their 



162 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

settlements in North Britain, towards the end of the eleventh century. The Gaelic or Celtic dialect 
of Scotland, and that of Ireland, are still closely allied; yet they now diverge far more widely from 
each other than in former times. From the fact that more than 200 copies of the Irish Bible were 
sent to the Highlands in 1686, and were found to be generally intelligible to the people, we may 
infer that at that period the two dialects were almost identical. 

As compared with Welsh, the Erse dialect presents many points of difference, especially in the 
regular substitution of the letter k or c for the Welsh p in words common to both dialects; thus, the 
Welsh ' Pasc' {Easter) is in Irish ' Kasg ;' and the Welsh ' pen' (a head) is in Irish ' keann.' Indeed, it has 
been remarked by Lhuyd, that there are scarcely any words in Erse, except a few borrowed from the 
Latin, that commence with p ; and he states that in an ancient alphabetic vocabulary of the language, 
that letter is entirely omitted. The letter n, on the other hand, takes a very prominent part in Irish 
orthography, especially in its influence on that transmutation of initials which we have already described 
as a characteristic of the Celtic dialects. The influence of n in this respect probably arises from its 
having been the old Celtic preposition denoting the genitive. This letter, however, like the final 
vowels, is generally suppressed, both in Welsh and Erse, where the transmutation of the initials has 
taken place, so that the effect only is visible, while the cause is concealed. The changes incident to 
initial consonants, when preceded by final n, are classed by Irish grammarians under the general name 
of eclipsis; a word probably derived from the fact of the altered consonant being placed before the 
radical or original one, which latter may properly be said to be eclipsed by the former. But these are 
mere dialectic variations; such as for instance the absence of d, g, r, from the alphabet of the dialect 
of St. Kilda, as the Rev. Dr. Malcomn tells us. 

The Roman letters are often used in Erse compositions, but the Irish have an ancient alphabet of 
their own, for which they feel a truly national predilection. The origin of this alphabet is very 
uncertain; it bears some resemblance to the Anglo-Saxon, and it has even been questioned whether 
the Saxons derived their alphabetical system from the Irish, or the Irish from the Saxons. In the 
dedication of the Irish Prayer Book of 1608, it is confidently asserted that the Saxons borrowed their 
letters from Ireland. The native Irish alphabet consists of eighteen letters, of which five are vowels. 
Nine of the consonants are called mutable, because when a mark of aspiration is placed over them, 
they either lose their primitive sound, or are suppressed altogether in pronunciation ; in this state they 
are technically said to be mortified. This change in pronunciation by means of a point is in some 
respect analogous to the effect which the dagesh point has upon some of the letters in Hebrew. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT 
It has been conjectured that the Scriptures were translated into Irish soon after the introduction 
of Christianity into the island, but we possess no definite account of any early version. The MS. 
containing the life of Moses and the patriarchs, described by Vallancey, although of unquestionable 
antiquity, is rather an historical compendium than a direct translation from the sacred text. There is no 
positive evidence of the existence of the Scriptures in Erse till the age immediately preceding that of 
Wickliffe, when a version of the New Testament is stated to have been in the possession of Richard 
Fitzralph, a native of Dundalk, raised in 1347 to the see of Armagh, and hence frequently called 
Richard Armachanus. Fitzralph is generally supposed to have been himself the translator of this 
version; and in his autobiography he relates " how the Lord taught him, and brought him out of the 
profound subtleties of Aristotle's philosophy to the study of the Scriptures of God." Although he 
was remarkable for the boldness with which he opposed the corruptions of the Church of Rome, yet 
he was compelled by the troubles of the times to conceal his New Testament. He deposited the 
precious volume inside one of the walls of his church, and wrote the following note on the last leaf: — 
" When this book is found, truth will be revealed to the world, or Christ will shortly appear." About 
170 years after his death, that is to say, about the year 1530, the church of Armagh Avas repaired, and 
the MS. was discovered. No vestige of it, however, exists at the present time, although Fox in his 



Ciass III.] IRISH. 163 

" Actes and Monumentes," published 1570, says, " T credibly heare of certayne old Irish Bibles trans- 
lated long since into trie Irish tong, which if it be true, it is not other lyke, but to be the doing of 
this Armachanus:" and he adds that "this was testified by certayne Englishmen, who are yet alyve, 
and have seen it." Usher, also, speaks of fragments of an Irish version being extant in his time. 

In the year 1571 a printing press and a fount of Irish types were provided by Queen Elizabeth 
at her own expense, " in hope (as it is stated in the dedication of the Irish New Testament) that God 
in mercy would raise up some to translate the New Testament into their mother tongue." The trans- 
lation Avas soon afterwards undertaken by three distinguished individuals — John Kearney, treasurer 
of St. Patrick's, Dublin; Nicholas Walsh, chancellor of St. Patrick's, and afterwards bishop of Ossory; 
and Xehemiah Donellan, a native of Galway, who in 1595 became archbishop of Tuam. Walsh was 
murdered in his own house in 1585, while engaged in the prosecution of the work. The translation 
was not suspended after his decease, as his two fellow-labourers proceeded diligently with it. Little, 
however, is known concerning the result of their labours, except that they prepared the way for the 
completion of the version of the New Testament eventually published in 1602. William Daniel, or 
O'Donnell, archbishop of Tuam, by whom this version was completed and carried through the press, 
was assisted by Mortogh O'Cionga, or King, a native of Connaught. The translation was made from 
the Greek, " to which," says Dr. Daniel in his epistle dedicatory to King James, " I tied myself as ol 
duty I ought." The edition, printed in 1602, was in the Irish character, and in folio, and consisted 
of 500 copies; the expense was defrayed by the province of Connaught, and by Sir William Usher, 
clerk of the council. 

With the exception of the passages of Scripture inserted in the Book of Common Prayer, which 
had been translated into Irish and printed by Dr. Daniel in 1608, no portion of the Old Testament 
existed in this language until the venerable Bishop Bedell undertook to procure a translation. 
Although appointed in 1629 to the see of Kilmore and Ardagh, he was an Englishman by birth, and 
unacquainted with the language of his new diocese. His first step toward the accomplishment of his 
important design was, therefore, the acquisition of the Erse dialect, which he commenced to study at 
the age of fifty-seven. His next measure was to secure the services of a native Irish scholar, and with 
the advice of Primate Usher, his choice fell on Mr. King, who had, as before mentioned, been employed 
by Dr. Daniel. He likewise availed himself of the assistance of the Bev. Dennis O'Sheriden, and with 
the aid of these two individuals, the version of the Old Testament was completed in 1640. Mr. King 
being ignorant of Hebrew, the translation was made in the first place from the English version. To 
Bishop Bedell the Hebrew and the Septuagint were as familiar as the English, for the Scriptures had 
for years been his favourite study. It was his custom, says his biographer, every day after dinner and 
supper to have a chapter of the Bible read at his table, whoever might be present; when Bibles being 
placed before each individual, the Hebrew or Greek was laid before himself. As he compared the 
Irish translation with the English, so he compared both with the Hebrew, the Septuagint, and with 
the Italian version of his friend Diodati, whom he highly valued. Every portion of the Irish Bible 
was thus tested by direct comparison with the original text; and for this task Bishop Bedell was 
peculiarly qualified, having resided many years at Venice as chaplain to Sir Henry Wotton, where he 
had studied Hebrew under Rabbi Leo, the chief chachan of the Jewish synagogue. For some cause 
or other, however, Mr. King, then above eighty years of age, incurred the enmity of Usher and some 
other bishops, in fact of the very persons by whom he had been recommended as a translator, and 
great opposition was made to the translation; the old man sank beneath these unjust persecutions, but 
Bishop Bedell remained firm in his determination to publish the version, and finally resolved to 
print it at his own expense, and in his own house. But while he was making preparations for the 
undertaking, the rebellion broke out; his palace was attacked, and he and his family were sent 
prisoners to the Castle of Lochwater. He was soon afterwards removed to the house of his friend 
Dennis O'Sheriden, where he closed his career of usefulness in 1641. 

After the death of this excellent prelate, the circulation of the vernacular Scriptures was utterly 
neglected by the bishops and clergy of Ireland; the version of the Old Testament was suffered to 



164 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

remain in MS.; no attempt was made to reprint the New Testament; and even the types that had been 
provided by Queen Elizabeth, after being handed about from one printer to another, were bought up 
by the Jesuits, and were carried by them to Douay, to be used as the vehicle of disseminating their 
own sentiments among the native Irish. At length, when the New Testament was completely out of 
print, another edition was conferred on Ireland by the munificence of a private individual, the Hon. 
Kobert Boyle. A new fount of Irish types was cast by order of Mr. Boyle in London, with which 
a second edition of the New Testament, consisting of about 750 copies in 4to., was published in 
1681. This was followed by the printing of Bishop Bedell's version of the Old Testament, chiefly 
at the expense of Mr. Boyle. The MS. had been confided by Bedell to the care of his friend Dennis 
O'Sheriden, one of the translators, from whom it had passed to Dr. Henry Jones, bishop of Meath: 
this latter communicated with Mr. Boyle on the subject, and the MS. was placed in the hands of 
Dr. Andrew Sail for examination; the sheets were found in much confusion, and defaced in some 
parts. Dr. Sail, therefore, undertook to revise the work, which revision he continued to prosecute till 
his death in 1682. Mr. Higgins, the Irish lecturer in Trinity College, who had assisted Dr. Sail in 
preparing the corrected copy for the press, completed the revision in conjunction with Mr. Eeilly, 
under the general superintendence of Dr. Marsh, afterwards primate of Ireland. An edition con- 
sisting of 500 copies of the entire Bible, in 2 vols, quarto, was printed in London in 1686, under the 
care of Mr. Beilly. Above 200 copies of this edition, as has already been stated, were sent to 
Scotland for the benefit of those to whom the Gaelic tongue was vernacular. 

More than a century was suffered to roll away before any efficient measures were taken to reprint 
the Scriptures in Irish. A second edition of the Bible was certainly printed in 1790; but this edition 
was in Roman characters, and designed chiefly for the Highlanders of Scotland. In 1799, Dr. Stokes 
published 2000 copies of St. Luke and the Acts, followed in 1806 by an edition of the Four Gospels 
and the Acts, in parallel columns of Erse and English; but these small portions of Scripture were far 
from sufficient to meet the wants of the Irish nation, and were moreover printed in the Roman 
character. The honour of first supplying Ireland with Bibles, after so long a period of destitution, 
belongs to the British and Foreign Bible Society. " In 1809," says Mr. Owen, " after a discussion, 
alternately suspended and renewed, for five years, and a correspondence of considerable extent with 
prelates, scholars, and public bodies in Ireland, an edition of the New Testament of 2000 copies, con- 
formable to the accredited version of Bishop Bedell, was put to press by the Society. This edition 
was in Roman characters, and was followed in 1813 by another edition from the same stereotype 
plates, of 3000 copies. Another edition of 2500 copies was struck off in 1816, and again another of 
3000 copies in 1817. An edition of the complete Irish Bible, in Roman characters, was issued by the 
Society in 1817; the version of Bedell was employed as the text of the Old Testament. The edition 
was in octavo, and consisted of 5000 copies. In the course of the following year, 3000 copies of the 
New Testament, in the Irish character, were struck off from stereotype plates. At length in 1828 the 
entire Irish Bible appeared in the vernacular character, from the version of Bedell and Daniel. The 
edition was published under the superintendence of a committee, and consisted of 5000 copies in 8vo., 
besides 20,000 copies of the New Testament. The editor on this occasion was Mr. M'Quige; but the 
sheets were likewise examined by Dr. Monck Mason and others." The Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge have had their attention recently directed to the superintendence of a revised edition of 
the Irish Scriptures, but the work has been deferred until the more urgent demand for a revised edition 
of the Common Prayer Book (at present in progress) shall have been met. The total number of Irish 
Bibles and Testaments that have been published by the British and Foreign Bible Society up to the 
year 1860 is as follows: — 

Bibles 15,000 

Testaments ..... 84,523 

Separate Books ..... 18,020 

Total . . 117,543 



Class III.] IEISH. 165 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

Notwithstanding the calamities with which Ireland has at various times been visited, the sacred 
Scriptures have been diligently disseminated throughout the length and breadth of the country; and 
though the results may not yet appear, it is certain that the precious seed thus scattered will ultimately 
take root, and bear fruit to the glory of God. At the anniversary of the Hibernian Bible Society, in 
1855, which was also their Jubilee meeting, it was stated that the issues of this Society from its 
formation in 1806, at which time there were not more than twelve towns in Ireland in which the 
Scriptures were sold, had amounted to 2,360,814 copies, of which 84,671 were Bibles, Testaments, 
and portions in the Irish language. 

One result of the circulation of the Irish Bible has been the extensive perusal of the English 
version. The Irish version is remarkably faithful and accurate, but contains many difficult, and some 
obsolete, words. The meaning of several passages is thus greatly obscured, and this has served to rouse 
the naturally enquiring spirit of the native Irish. In cases of perplexity they have acquired the habit 
of seeking in the English Bible an elucidation of the Irish text. The study of the English language 
has in consequence greatly progressed in Ireland, and in some places the English Bible is known by the 
familiar designation of " the construer." Dr. Monck Mason mentions that after the circulation of the 
Irish Bible, 700 copies of the English Testament were sold upon one occasion in the course of a few 
hours in the same place, where, but a dozen years previously, one of these very volumes had been 
publicly and triumphantly burnt. Owing to the benevolent efforts of the Sunday and other School 
Societies, the Irish peasantry have the means of learning to read the Scriptures very generally within 
their reach. At the commencement of the year 1860, the schools connected with the Sunday School 
Society for Ireland amounted to 2,686, which were reported to be attended by 230,668 children and 
adults, instructed by 20,873 gratuitous teachers; and 151,315 of the scholars were stated to be reading 
in the Bible or Testament. The total number of Scriptures gratuitously granted, or sold at reduced 
prices, since the Society's formation, amounts to a total of more than a million and a half. 

The following remarks, occurring in a collective address of eight Irish teachers, written in 
the year 1845, are too appropriate to be omitted : — " What a living Eonge has effected in 
Germany, the immortal Bedell may yet effect in Ireland. ' He being dead, yet speaketh' — yet 
speaketh in the Irish Bible; which, under the blessing of the Almighty, has already brought thousands 
from darkness to light — from bigotry and superstition to Christian knowledge and liberality of mind. 
Though persecution and anathema deter many from uniting with us, still the Irish Bible and the Irish 
school have raised up intelligent men, who will not be prevented from reading the Holy Scriptures. 
These men know that for centuries past their brethren in Ireland, speaking the Irish language 
exclusively, have been allowed to live and to die without the Scriptures in their own tongue — they 
know that the Church of Rome, until this day, has not provided a translation of the Scriptures in Irish 
— they know, if it had not been for the Irish Society, they themselves must have been as the neglected 
generations departed. They feel then most grateful for Irish Schools and the Irish Bible. They have 
read it — they are reading it — they will r^ad it, and hand it down to their children's children as the 
most valuable gift that Ireland ever received." 



166 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 



MANKS. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

[London, 1819.] 

Ayns y toshiaght va'n Goo, as va'n Goo marish Jee, as va'n Goo Jee. 2 Va'n Goo 
cheddin ayns y toshiaght marish Jee. 3 Liorishyn va dy chooilley nhee er ny yannoo ; 
as n'egooish cha row nhee erbee jeant va er ny yannoo ; 4 Aynsyn va bea, as va'n vea 
soilshey deiney. 5 As ren y soilshey soilshean ayns y dorraghys, as cha ren y dorraghys 
goaill-rish. 6 Va dooinney er ny choyrt veih Jee va enmyssit Ean. 7 Haink eh shoh son 
feanish, dy ymmyrkey feanish jeh'n toilshey, liorishyn dy voddagh dy chooilley ghooinney 
credjal. 8 Cha nee eh va'n soilshey shen, agh v'eh er ny choyrt dy ymmyrkey feanish 
jeh'n toilshey shen. 9 Shen va'n soilshey firrinagh, ta soilshean ayns dy chooilley 
ghooinney ta cheet er y theihll. 10 V'eh ayns y theihll, as va'n seihll er ny yannoo 
liorishyn, as y seihll cha dug enney er. n Haink eh gys e vooinjer hene, agh cha ren e 
vooinjer hene soiaghey jeh. 12 Agh whilleen as ren soiaghey jeh, dauesyn hug eh pooar 
dy ve nyn mec dy Yee, eer dauesyn ta credjal ayns yn ennym echey : 13 Va er nyn 
ruggey, cha nee jeh fuill, ny jeh aigney ny foalley, ny jeh aigney dooinney, agh jeh Jee. 
14 As ghow yn Goo er dooghys ny foalley, as ren eh bcaghey nyn mast' ain (as hug shin 
my-ner yn ghloyr echey, yn ghloyr myr jeh'n ynrycan Mac er-ny-gheddyn jeh'n Ayr) 
lane dy ghrayse as dy irrinys. 

The Isle of Man, the ancient Mona (of Caesar), is situated in the Irish Sea, almost in the centre of the 
United Kingdom, and comprises an area of 280 square miles. The feudal sovereignty of the island was 
conferred by Henry IV. on the House of Stanley in the fifteenth century, and was held by that family 
and their successors, the Dukes of Atholl, till purchased by Parliament in 1765 for the sum of £70,000: 
the island, however, still continues to be governed by its own laws. The established religion is that 
of the Church of England, and the bishopric of Sodor and Man is the most ancient in the United 
Kingdom, having been founded early in the fourth century. Much labour has been expended by anti- 
quarians in the endeavour to discover the precise meaning of " Sodor," but in vain. " The byshop" is 
mentioned as early as 18th January, 1417-18. According to the census of 1851, the amount of popula- 
tion is 52,116. English may now be said to be the predominant language of the island: it is spoken 
familiarly by all the young people, and in the elementary schools is the exclusive medium of instruction. 
It is heard from the pulpit in all the churches of the towns; and even in the country parishes, public 
worship is seldom conducted in Manks more frequently than on alternate Sundays, and in some places only 
once a month. In several instances, service in Manks is desired by the people, but cannot be obtained, 
as the minister is unacquainted with it. Yet, although the knowledge of English is so generally 
diffused, Manks is still spoken by the adults of the working class, and in rural districts by their 
children. The old people in particular are much attached to their ancient tongue, and many of them 
understand no other. 

I. — CHARACTERISTICS OF RACE AND DIALECT. 

The island appears to be inhabited by two races; the one, with light hair, fair and florid com- 
plexion, dwelling chiefly in the north; the other, with dark hair and complexion, in the south. 
Manks is more used by the former than the latter race, and with greater purity of diction and of 



Class III.] MANKS. 167 

pronunciation. It has scarcely any resemblance to Welsh; it contains a few words like Irish, but to 
Gaelic it bears a striking affinity, many words being identical in meaning and sound, and frequently 
in orthography. Manksmen call their own dialect Gailck (from Gilk). It is highly expressive, being 
at once matter of fact and metaphorical. A frequent rhythm is observable, especially in the Liturgy, 
owing to vowel terminations. It abounds in guttural, full sounds, of broad pronunciation. The verb 
has few inflections, but by the preposition in composition undergoes a surprising change in meaning. 
Speaking of this interesting dialect, the author of the Manks Dictionary (Pref. p. xv.) says: — "I cannot 
but admire the construction, texture, and beauty of the Manks language, and how the words initially 
change their cases, moods, tenses, degrees, etc. It appears like a piece of exquisite net-work, inter- 
woven together in a masterly manner, and framed by the hand of a most skilful workman; equal to 
the composition of the most learned, and not the production of chance. The depth of meaning that 
abounds in many of the words must be conspicuous to every person versed in the language." Manks 
is characterised by the incorporation of many Scandinavian words, which were doubtless introduced 
during the continued sway of the Danes and of the Norwegians, who succeeded the Saxons in the 
government of the island. There is no written literature except the Bible, Prayer Book, and a small 
volume, now very rarely met with, a translation of part of Milton's Paradise Lost, by Rev. J. or T. 
Christian, a Grammar by J. Kelly, and a Dictionary by A. Cregean. 

II. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. 

It is currently reported that a Manks version of the entire Scriptures was executed as early as 
the commencement of the seventeenth century, yet not the smallest vestige of the MS. is now to be 
met with; and, what is still more singular, no portion of it appears to have been in existence even 
during the last century. The translator is said to have been Dr. John Philips, bishop of Sodor and 
Man. He was born in North Wales, and before his elevation to the bishopric was rector of Hawarden, 
in Flintshire. His familiarity with his native language greatly facilitated his acquisition of the Manks 
dialect, and he devoted himself during the space of twenty-nine years to the translation of the Bible 
and of the Common Prayer Book into Manks. He was assisted by Sir Hugh Cavoll, vicar of Kirk- 
Michael, and others; but he died in 1633, leaving his translations completed, but not printed, and no 
portion of them appears to have been committed to the press after his decease. The present version 
of the Manks Bible was produced by the christian zeal of two other bishops of Sodor and Man. J t 
was commenced in the gaol of Castle Rushen, by the excellent Bishop Wilson, in concert with 
Dr. Walker, one of his vicars, when unjustly imprisoned by the governor of the island. This was in 
the year 1722. The Gospel of St. Matthew was translated by Dr. Walker, and printed, under the 
direction and at the expense of the bishop, in London, in 1748. The other Gospels and the Acts 
were left in a state of readiness for the press by this venerable bishop, who died in 1755, at the 
advanced age of ninety-three, after having held the bishopric of the island for fifty-eight years. 
Dr. Mark Hildesley, his successor, entered with the utmost ardour and anxiety on the prosecution of 
the translation. " My whole heart," said Dr. Hildesley, in a letter to a correspondent, " is set on the 
Manks translation." He was however deterred, by his imperfect acquaintance with the language, from 
taking any part in the work beyond that of general supervision. After untiring application to the study 
of Manks, he at length qualified himself to conduct the services of the Church in that language; yet, 
notwithstanding his praiseworthy efforts, he never obtained a higher reputation than that of being "a 
very pretty Manks:" on one occasion he himself observed that "he would give five hundred pounds were 
he enough master of Manks as to be able to translate." It is not certain whether Dr. Walker completed 
the translation of the New Testament, or whether Bishop Hildesley availed himself of the service of 
some other Manks scholar. The version was published in 1767 in London, chiefly by the aid of the 
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. About the time of the completion at press of the 
New Testament, the bishop made arrangements for the translation of the Old Testament, dividing it 
for this purpose into twenty-four parts, which he distributed among as many different individuals. 



168 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

The twenty-four persons thus selected as translators were nearly all residents in the island, and, with 
one exception, they all held clerical appointments. After passing through their hands, the work was 
committed for final revision to Dr. Moore and Dr. Kelly: the latter was then only eighteen years of 
age, but he had displayed such proficiency in the critical knowledge of Manks, which was his native 
language, as to justify his engaging in this important undertaking: he transcribed the whole version, 
from Genesis to Eevelation, for the press, and in conjunction with Dr. Moore corrected and revised the 
proof sheets. Dr. Moore was aided by the advice of Bishop Lowth and Dr. Kennicott, both of whom 
took a deep interest in this version. The feelings with which Dr. Moore regarded his work may be 
inferred from his last will and testament, where he blesses God "for all the comforts of his existence, 
but above all that he had a capital hand and concern in the Manks Scriptures." He died in 1783, but 
not till he had witnessed the completion at press of the entire version. The first part of the Old 
Testament was printed in 1770, at Whitehaven; the preservation of the second part was entirely due 
to the intrepidity of Dr. Moore and Dr. Kelly. They were proceeding to Whitehaven for the purpose 
of superintending the press, taking with them the second portion of the MS. : a storm arose, in which 
they were shipwrecked, and almost every article on board was lost except the MS., which they pre- 
served by holding it above the water during the space of five hours. 

In 1772, the Old Testament, to the great joy of Bishop Hildesley, was completed and published. 
This good bishop had frequently said, " I wish but to see the sacred volume finished, and should then 
be happy, die when I may." On the last sheets of the work being placed in his hands, he very 
emphatically sang " Nunc Domine, dimittis" in the presence of his congratulating family. This 
happened on Saturday, November 28th, 1772. On the following day he preached with more than 
usual fervour on the uncertainty of life, and resumed the same subject in his family circle in so affecting 
a manner as to draw tears from all present. Thus in "something like prophetic strain" did he prepare 
the minds of others for his approaching end, for on the very next day he was suddenly attacked by 
apoplexy, which deprived him in a moment of his intellectual faculties: he lingered but a week, and 
then entered into rest. 

The second edition of the Manks Scriptures was published by the Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge in 1775: in this edition the entire Bible was in quarto, and separate copies of the New 
Testament were printed in octavo. Other editions have since been issued by the same Society. In 
1810, a stereotyped edition of 2000 copies of the New Testament, in 12mo., was published by the 
British and Foreign Bible Society. The Bishop of Sodor and Man having, through his clergy, 
ascertained the want of the Scriptures in the several parishes of the island, applied for 1326 Testaments, 
which were promptly supplied by the Society, at reduced prices, for the accommodation of the poor. 
An additional supply of 250 copies was struck off from the same plates in 1815, and another edition 
of 5000 copies of the entire Bible was printed by the Society in 1819. Since then no farther editions 
of the Manks Scriptures have appeared, and it is probable that the edition of 1819 is the last that will 
ever be published. English Bibles are now in general demand in the island, and, with the increased 
cultivation of the English language, are daily getting more and more into use; indeed so far back as 
the year 1825, the Bishop of Sodor and Man informed the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 
that there was no longer any necessity for impressions of the Bible in the Manks language, and that 
the islanders were eager to be supplied with English copies. 

The Manks translation of the Old Testament has been esteemed nearer the Hebrew than is the 
English authorised version, and is frequently of a paraphrastical character. A remarkable variation 
between the English and Manks Bible occurs in 1 Kings xvii. 3 — 6: instead of "ravens," the reading 
is " Cummaltee Oreb," inhabitants of Oreb. 

III. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

At the period of the first publication of the Manks Scriptures, the English language was com- 
paratively little cultivated in the island, and the English Bible was unintelligible to the mass of the 



Class III.] CORNISH. 169 

inhabitants. The benefit of the Manks version to the generation for whom it was executed can 
therefore only be estimated by taking into account their inability to read the Scriptures in any other 
language. A poor Manks woman, on hearing her son read to her for the first time a chapter of the 
new version, cried out, in great exultation, " We have sat in darkness (dorraghys) until now." And 
when the first books of the Manks New Testament were brought into circulation (in 1763), Dr. 
Hildesley wrote: — "The vast eagerness and joy with which the first specimen has been received and 
sought after have amply convinced me of the utility of the undertaking, had I had no previous 
persuasion in my own mind of the real benefit it must needs be to the souls of the far greater part of 
the people of my charge." That the Manks version is even now valued by those to whom the lan- 
guage is vernacular is evident from the fact, that in the year 1848, 300 copies were dispatched to the 
island by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and a farther supply in the Society's year of Jubilee; 
yet there is every probability that the prediction of a recent writer will be literally fulfilled, and that 
in the course of another generation, " the Manks tongue, regarded with dislike by the utilitarian 
philosophy of the nineteenth century, will be a venerable relic of past times, interesting only to the 
philologist and antiquary." 



C ORNISH. 

SPECIMEN, FROM GENESIS, Chap. i. v. 1 to 13. 

En dallathvaz Dew aveth' wraz neve ha noare. 2 Ha thera an noar heb roath, ha 
gwag, haveth an tewlder war bedgeth a'n downder ; ha sperez Dew rig gwayath war 
bedgeth an dowrow. 3 Ha Dew lavarez, gwrenz boz goollo, ha enathera goollo. 4 Ha 
Dew gwellas a goollo, tro va dah ; ha Dew rig deberrhee an goollo thurt an tewlder. 5 Ha 
Dew a henuys an goollo deeth, ha an tewlder ea grioz noz ; ha gothewhar ha metten o an 
kenza journa. 6 Ha Dew lavaraz, gwrenz ena boz ebbarn en creez an dowerou, ha grenz 
e deberrhe an dowerou, thur't an dowerou. 7 Ha Dew 'wraz an ebbarn, ha theberhaz an 
dowrow era en dadn an ebbarne, thort an dowrow era eah an ebbarn ; ha an dellna etho. 
8 Ha Dew crioz a ebbarne neve, ha gothu liar ha metten o a nessa journa. 9 Ha Dew 
lavaraz, gwrenz a dowrow en dadn an nef bos cuntellyes warbarth tha idn thellher, ha 
gwrenz an teer zeah disquethas ; ha an dellna etho. 10 Ha Dew a griaz an tir zeah noare, 
contellyans, war barb, a'n dowrow e criaz moar ; ha Dew a wellas tro va dah. n Ha Dew 
laveraz, gwrenz an 'oar dryrag gwelz, ha lusu toan haz, ha an gweeth toan lavallo warier 
go' hendah, leb go haaz etta go honnen, war a doar, ha an dellna etho. 12 Ha an 'oar a droz 
rag gwelz, ha an lozo rig dasker haz poka e cunda, ha an gwyth toon lavallo, ha go haz 
etta go honnen, warier go henda ; ha Dew gwellas tro va dah. 13 Ha gothuar ha metten 
o an tridga journa. 

The Celtic dialect, once spoken in Cornwall, is now extinct as a living language. Dolly Pentreath, 
who died at Penzance in 1778, aged 102, was then said to be the only person in Cornwall who could 
speak the aboriginal idiom of that province of ancient Britain. 

One cannot see such relics of antiquity disappear from the face of the earth without regret. The 



170 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

very fact that the dialect of the ancient British tongue spoken until lately in the southernmost county of 
England, was most likely the same in which its inhabitants bartered their tin for the purple of Tyre 
with the Phoenician traders who gave Britain its glorious name, cannot but make the complete annihi- 
lation of the Cornu-British dialect of the Celtic tongue, a source of regret for all who love antiquity. 

The Cornish dialect, one of the three branches of the old British, bears greater affinity with the 
Breton, or Armorican dialect of Brittany, than it does with Welsh; although it properly forms the 
link of union between the Celtic dialect of France, and that of the Cambrian hills. The nature of its 
inflexions, both in letters, and in tenses and cases, is generally speaking alike, allowance being made 
for dialectic variations arising from the nature of the country in which the dialect is spoken. The 
only remains of the Cornish dialect are preserved in several MSS. kept in the Bodleian, in the British 
Museum, and elsewhere in this country. Of these, several have been published, viz. : Mount Calvary, 
a poem in 259 stanzas; another called The Creation; both edited by D. Gilbert, in 1826-1827, and, 
lately, an ancient Cornish Drama, edited by Mr. E. Norris. There is also a Cornish Grammar, by 
Dr. Pryce, printed at Sherborne in 1790, 4 to, under the name of Archoeologia Cornu-Britannica, and 
a smaller one by Mr. Norris. The extract from the first chapter of Genesis given here is borrowed 
from the appendix to " The Creation of the World." This, and the parable of the Prodigal Son, are 
the only portions of Scripture that have been printed in the Cornish dialect; and on this account it is 
remarkable as a curiosity. 



BRETON. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

[Beest, 1847.] 

Er gommansamant e oa ar Ger, hag ar Ger a oa gand Doue , hag ar Ger a oa Doue. 
2 He-ma a oa er gommansamant gand Doue. 8 An holl draou a zo bet gred drezan, hag 
hepzan n'eo bet gret netra hag a zo bet gret. 4 Ennan e oa ar vuez, ar vuez a oa goulou 
an dud. ° Hag ar goulou a ra scleria en devalien, hag an devalien n'e deus ked e resevet. 
6 Bez' e oe un den caset gand Doue, hanvet Ian. 7 He-ma a zeuaz da desteni, evit rei 
testeni diwarben ar goulou, evit ma credche an holl drezan. 8 Ne ket hen a oa ar goulou, 
mes cased e oa evit rei testeni diwarben ar goulou. 9 Hen a oa ar guir c'houlou , pehini 
a sclera an holl dud, en eur zond er bed. 10 Er bed e oa, hag ar bed a oa gred drezan, 
hag ar bed n'en deus ked e anavezet. n Deued eo d'e re, hag e re n'o deus ked e resevet. 
12 Mes da gemend hini en deus e resevet, en deus roed ar galloud da veza bugale da 
Zoue ; d'ar re a gred en e hano ; 13 Pere n'int ket ganet eus ar goad, nag eus a volonte 
ar c'hig, nag eus a volonte an den, mes eus a Zoue. u Hag ar Ger a zo bet gret kig, 
hag en deus choumed en hon touez, (hag hon eus gueled e c'hloar, ur gloar evel eus a 
Vab unic-ganet an Tad) leun o c'hras hag a ouirionez. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 
Bketon, the language of the ancient independent kingdom of Armorica, is now spoken in Lower 



Class III.] BRETON. 171 

Brittany. Its exact geographical diffusion has been minutely described by the Rev. Thomas Phillips, 
to whose personal observations, during his active exertions in the cause of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, we are indebted for much information concerning this interesting country. " In Nantes 
and the surrounding country," says Mr. Phillips, " Breton is unknown. It is, therefore, wholly con- 
fined to the Basse-Bretagne, comprising the three westerly departments of Finisterre, Morbihan, and 
C6tes-du-Nord. A line drawn from the north to the south coast, so as to pass a little to the west of 
St. Brieux, through Pontivy to Vannes, will show the extent of country in which this language is 
spoken. On the west side of this line, and from Vannes along the sea shore in a southerly direction, 
towards the department of Lower Loire, it continues to be the prevailing language, while on the 
eastern side of this supposed line you hear both Breton and French for some distance." Deducting 
the French part of the population, Mr. Phillips estimates the number of persons in Lower Brittany 
ordinarily using the Breton language at 800,000: of these he considers that upwards of half a 
million are unacquainted with French, and unable to read or converse in any language but Breton. 
The religion of Brittany is the Roman Catholic, and Latin is therefore the liturgical language; but 
the priests in the country districts preach in Breton. French is now the only language used in all 
the elementary schools: it is also the language chiefly employed in commerce and in the courts of 
law, and appears likely soon to supersede the native Breton in the larger towns. The priests, how- 
ever, from a principle, it is thought, of ecclesiastical conservatism, oppose the encroachments of the 
French language; and Breton will, in all probability, continue to be for ages the vernacular of the 
uneducated portion of the population. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The affinity between Breton and Welsh, through the Cornish, is so close, as to admit little room 
for doubt concerning their original identity. After the capture of Belle Isle by the English in 1761, 
such of the soldiers as were natives of Wales were able to make themselves intelligible to the Bretons, 
and to act as interpreters for their English comrades; and it is found at the present day, that a 
Welshman, if acquainted with French and Latin, requires but little study to enable him to converse, 
read, and even write in Breton. An old and current tradition represents the country of Brittany as 
having been peopled by a colony of ancient Britons, who fled thither to escape from the aggressions of 
the Saxons, while others of their countrymen sought refuge from the same enemy in Wales. If this 
account could be satisfactorily proved, there would be no occasion to seek farther for the cause of the 
remarkable similarity that exists between the languages of Wales and Brittany; but Niebuhr rejects 
the whole story as fabulous, and there certainly is a total want of all contemporaneous evidence on the 
subject. Still, the testimony of early writers, who mention the tradition as an undoubted historical 
fact, is entitled to some weight; and the resemblance between the names of many places in Brittany 
and in Wales is a farther proof that some connection anciently existed between the inhabitants of the 
two countries. It is also rather remarkable, and yet natural, that the same kind of antiquities, 
supposed to be Druidical remains, should be found in Brittany, Wales, and Cornwall, particularly as 
these antiquities are distinguished by the same names in each country. These and other indications, 
together with the similarity of language, clearly establish the fact that Britain and Brittany were 
colonised by the same branch of the Celtic race ; although as to the period and mode of this colonisation, 
and the nature of the intercourse which undoubtedly existed in very ancient times between the 
Bretons of Armorica and the Britons of Wales, history is silent. Breton resembles Welsh not only 
in the Celtic elements common to both languages, but also in the large stock of Latin words with 
which they are both intermixed. Some difference has, however, of late years sprung up between 
Welsh and Breton, owing to the multitude of French words which the latter has admitted into 
its vocabulary, especially in the neighbourhood of towns : but these additions have not affected the 
structure of the language, which remains in all essential points precisely the same at the present 
time as at the most distant epoch from which writteu compositions in Breton have been transmitted. 



172 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

As early as the year 1814, an application was made by the Antiquarian Society of Paris to the 
British and Foreign Bible Society, on the subject of procuring a Breton version of the Scriptures. 
Another representation of the same purport was laid before the British and Foreign Bible Society in 
1819; and in 1824 they authorised the Bev. David Jones, who was at that time the secretary of the 
Auxiliary Bible Society at Swansea, to proceed to Brittany, there to institute inquiries concerning any 
version or versions of the Bible in Breton that might be in existence. After a diligent search in all 
the libraries of the country, Mr. Jones ascertained that no portion of the Scriptures, either in print or 
MS., existed in the Breton language, with the exception of such scriptural extracts as had appeared 
in various Bomish books of devotion. With the concurrence of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
Mr. Jones, therefore, engaged the services of Legonidec, a Breton of considerable learning, to prepare 
a translation of the New Testament. Mr. Jones died during the progress of this work, but the sheets 
were regularly forwarded by Professor Kieffer of Paris to the Bev. T. Price, of Crickhowel, an eminent 
Celtic scholar. After having been carefully revised and corrected by Mr. Price, an edition of 1000 
copies of this version of the New Testament was completed in 1827, at Angouleme, where Legonidec 
then resided: the copies were deposited in the Society's warehouse at Paris. This translation was 
made from the Vulgate, for Legonidec was a Catholic, and unacquainted with the original language of 
Scripture: it possesses many excellences of style and diction, yet at the same time is scarcely suitable 
for general circulation. Legonidec's great object was to restore the language to its pristine purity, by 
the rejection of all foreign words and phrases that had, in the process of time, been mingled with it. 
But in his efforts to attain to classical correctness, he unconsciously adopted a style of writing that 
appeared obscure, and almost unintelligible, to his less educated countrymen; and moreover being, like 
Dr. W. Owen Pughe in Wales, the inventor of a new system of orthography, he unadvisedly introduced 
his system into this version, and thus rendered it still more unintelligible to the mass of the people. 
When Protestant missionaries first commenced their labours in this country (about the year 1834), 
they were greatly discouraged to find that this New Testament, the only version possessed by the 
Bretons in their own language, was but imperfectly understood by them. The Bev. J. Jenkins, there- 
fore, of Morlaix, a native of Glamorganshire, and agent of the Baptist Missionary Society, undertook 
a new translation, in which he was assisted by a native Breton. He translated from the Greek original, 
and consulted the Welsh and English authorised versions, and Martin's and Ostervald's French versions. 
This work, when completed, was found to be intelligible to the whole Breton population, except the 
inhabitants of the neighbourhood of Vannes, who speak a peculiar dialect of Breton. Proofs of 
its accuracy and faithfulness having been laid before the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society, they resolved on publishing an edition of 3000 copies. The edition was printed at Brest, 
before the close of the year 1847, and depositories have been established both at Morlaix and Quimper. 
No edition of the Old Testament has yet been published; but a version executed by Legonidec, and 
revised by Mr. Price, is preserved in MS. in the library of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The 
demand for the revised edition of the New Testament was such as to justify the preparation of another 
edition of 4000 copies; and these, notwithstanding the opposition of the priesthood, too willingly 
supported by the civil authorities, are now being gradually circulated, partly by the missionaries, and 
partly by colporteurs. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 
The ignorance of the people, and the bigotry of the priests, have hitherto retarded the circulation 
of the New Testament in this country; but the recent sale of an edition of 3000 copies by the instru- 
mentality of Protestant ministers and colporteurs, is a hopeful circumstance, and likely to lead to 
important results. 



Class III.] BRETON. 173 

THE PRODIGAL SON. 

TRANSLATED INTO BEETON, IN THE DIALECT OE LEON OE FINISTEEEE, BY M. LEGONIDEC 

AT?, MAP. GWALL-ZISPINER, v. 17 to 20. 

17 Hogen 6 veza distroed d'ezhan he-unan, e lavaras : a bed gopraer zo e ti va zad 
hag en deus bara e leis, ha me a varv amafi gand ann naoun ! 18 Sevel a-rinn, hag ez 
inn etreze va zad, hag e livirinn d'ezhan: va zad, pec'hed em euz a eneb ann envhag enn 
hoc'h enep. 19 N'ounn ket talvoudek pelloc'h da veza hanved ho mab ; va digemerid evel 
unan euz ho kopraerien. 20 Hag 6 sevel e tenaz etrezeg he dad. Hogen, pa edo c'hoas 
pell, he dad hen gwelas, hag en doe truez out han, hag 6 tiredek e lammas d'he c'howyong, 
hag e pokas d'ezhan. 



THE SAME, IN THE TEEGUIEE DIALECT, BT THE LATE M. LE BEIGATTT, EEV1SED BT M. LEGONIDEC. 

AR MAB PRODIG, v. 17 to 20. 

17 Hogen 6 distroi d'ehan he-unan a laras : nag a dud a zo enn ti ma zad an eus 
bara arpez a geront, hag aman a varvann gand ann naon. 18 Sevel a rinn, hag a inn d'am 
zad, hag a larinn d'ehan : ma zad, pec'hed em euz ouz ann env-ha dirag hoc'h. 19 N'onn 
ken talvoudek da vean hanved ho mab : leked anon evel unan a ho mevello. Hag 6 seVel 
a deuas d'he dad. 20 Hogen pa voa pell c'hoaz, he dad a welaz anehan hag an efoe true 
out-han, hag 6 tiredek a lammas d'he c'houk, hag a pokas d'ehan. 



CLASS IXL-IFDO-ETJROPEAN LANGUAGES, 

D. TEUTONIC FAMILY. 



GOTHIC. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. xv. v. 1 to 12. 

Ik im veinatriu thata sunjcino. jah atta meins vaurstvja ist. 2 all taine in mis unbairan- 
dane akran goth usnimith ita. jah all akran bairandane gahraineith ita. ei managizo 
akran bairaina. 3 ju jus hrainjai sijuth in this vaurdis. thate irodida du izvis. 4 visaith 
in mis jah ik in izvis sve sa veinatains ni mag akran bairan af sis silbin. niba ist 
ana veinatriva. svah nih jus. niba in mis sijuth. 5 ik im thata veinatriu. ith jus 
veinatainos. saei visith in mis jah ik in imma. sva bairith akran manag. thatei inuh 
mik ni maguth taujan ni vaiht. G niba saei visith in mis. usvairpada ut sve veinatains 
jah gathaursnith jah galisada jah in fon galagjand jah inbrannjada. 7 aththan jabai sijuth 
in mis. jah vaurda meina in izvis sind. thatawah thei vileith. bidjith. jah vairthith 
izvis. 8 in thamma hauhiths ist atta meins. ei akran manag bairaith. jah vairthaith 
meinai siponjos. 9 svasve frijoda mik atta. svah ik frijoda izvis. visaith in friathvai 
meinai. 10 jabai anabusnins memos fastaid. sijuth in friathvai meinai. svasve ik 
anabusnins attins meinis fastaida jah visa in friathvai is. n thata rodida izvis ei faheths 
meina in izvis sijai jah faheds izvara usfulljaidau. 12 thata ist anabusns meina ei frijoth 
izvis misso svasve ik frijoda izvis. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. 
The Goths formed an important section of the Teutonic or Germanic race, but their idiom is now 
extinct, and what little we know concerning it is gathered from the immortal work of Ulphilas, and a 
few other existing monuments. The earliest mention of the Goths by name occurs in some fragments 
of the Periplus of Pytheas, the renowned navigator of Marseilles. From these fragments we may 
infer that they inhabited the coasts of Jutland about 325 years before the Christian era; but it is 
probable that they had arrived in Europe several centuries prior to that period. Many authors are of 
opinion that their first seat in Europe was Scandinavia. It appears from the statement of Tacitus that 
they were settled in Pomerania and Prussia, near the mouth of the Vistula, about the year A.D. 80. 
Sword in hand, they gradually extended their dominion in Eastern Germany till the age of Antoninus 
(about A.D. 180), when suddenly, from some unknown cause, they began to migrate in vast hordes 
towards the northern coast of the Black Sea. From this point they made frequent incursions into the 
Roman Empire, and possessed themselves of Dacia, and some of the neighbouring states. As their 



Class III.] GOTHIC. 175 

dominions increased, they became distinguished, according to the geographical position of the territories 
they occupied, by the appellation of the Eastern, Ostro, or Austro-Goths, and of the Western or Vfsi- 
Goths. About the year a.d. 377, the inroads of the Huns caused some of the Visi-Goths to implore 
the protection of the Roman Emperor Valens. In compliance with their request, he assigned them 
the province of Moesia, the present Bulgaria and Servia; and it was on account of their long residence 
in that province that some have called the language the Mceso-Gothic. They subsequently revolted 
from their allegiance to the Imperial government, and in 409, under Alaric, they took and pillaged 
Rome. Their next migration was to the south of France; and then, crossing the Pyrenees, they 
established themselves in Spain, where they reigned nearly three hundred years, until finally subdued 
by the Saracens. In the meantime the Eastern or Austro-Goths had established a monarchy in Italy, 
which continued from the time of Theodoric the Great, A.D. 493, until the power of this nation was 
crushed by Belisarius and Narses, under Justinian, the emperor of the East. These Italian Goths used the 
same language as those in Moesia, as is proved by the monuments of the language at Arezzo and Naples. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Although the Gothic is by no means the oldest Teutonic language, being nearly cognate with 
Saxon, Friesic, Alemannic, and other ancient branches of the Germanic family, yet it is especially 
interesting to the philologist, because, owing to its preservation in the precious version of Ulphilas, it 
affords means for the examination of one of the earliest stages through which the speech of the great 
Germanic family has passed. Many of the elements of the modern Germanic languages are traceable 
in the Gothic, and it is through the medium of this ancient language that their original connection 
with Sanscrit, Persian, Greek, and Latin, is most clearly to be demonstrated. The Gothic retains 
several ancient forms which have wholly disappeared in modern languages. Like the Sanscrit and the 
Greek, it possesses a dual number and a passive form of the verb, and it forms its past tense by means 
of a reduplication. It is also remarkable for uniformly exchanging the p of Latin, Greek, and Sanscrit 
words for f: thus, the Latin word pes, in Greek 7ro0?, and in Sanscrit padas, is in Gothic fotus ; so 
iroXv in Greek is converted into Jilu in Gothic, and the Latin piscis becomes Jisks. In the same way 
the t of the Sanscrit, Greek, and Latin becomes th in Gothic; and other uniform mutations of con- 
sonants might be cited. The characters used in writing the Gothic language were invented by 
Ulphilas, and are merely modifications of the Greek and Roman capitals. 

III. VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

One of the most valuable remnants of antiquity, a part of a version of the Scriptures belonging to 
the fourth century, exists in this language. The version of the New Testament was made with great 
accuracy and fidelity from Constantinopolitan MSS., and that of the Old Testament from the Septuagint. 
Many readings from the Latin have been interpolated in more recent times, but they are easily dis- 
tinguished from the genuine version. This work is, therefore, of great importance in the history of 
the sacred text, as it affords a correct representation of the state of Constantinopolitan MSS. during 
the fourth century of our era. Unfortunately the fragments of this version now known to be in 
existence consist only of large portions of the Four Gospels, part of the Pauline Epistles, fragments 
of the Psalms, of the Pentateuch, a few remnants of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and of 
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and of some of the Minor Prophets. The translator was Ulphilas, 
the celebrated bishop of the Moeso-Goths. He was a Goth by birth, but of Cappadocian ancestry. 
He was born A.D. 318, and was educated at Constantinople, where he embraced Christianity, and was 
ordained bishop in 348. By his moral and mental endowments he acquired unlimited influence over 
his countrymen, and easily induced them to embrace a religion the doctrines of which were exemplified 
in his own holy life. It became at last a proverbial saying among the Goths, " whatever is done by 
Ulphilas, is well done." But Arianism was then the prevailing form of religion in the eastern part 
of the empire, and the history of Ulphilas affords but too many proofs that he upheld this heresy. 



176 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

In one passage of this version a vestige of Arianism is apparent: Phil. ii. 5 is rendered " galeiko 
Gutha" like God; instead of the true rendering, "equal to God." But the version of Ulphilas is in 
general accurate, and in many cases of great importance in a critical and hermeneutical point of view. 

The most important codex of the Gothic version now extant is that called Codex Argenteus, 
or the Silver Book, from the circumstance of the letters being of a silver hue, except some of the 
initials, which are of gold. The vellum itself is chiefly purple, but in some parts of a violet colour. 
The MS. was produced in Italy, but the time of its execution is doubtful: by some authors it is 
attributed to the fifth century. It has evidently no claim to be regarded as the autograph of Ulphilas, 
for it possesses some marginal readings which clearly attest that several transcripts had been made since 
his time. This valuable codex was not generally known to be in existence till it was discovered in the 
Benedictine Library at Werden on the Ruhr, in Rhenish- Prussia, where it had lain for several centuries; 
but when or by what means it found its way thither cannot be ascertained. Its subsequent history is 
curious. About the beginning of the seventeenth century it was removed to Prague; but in 1648, 
Prague being taken by the Swedes, it was sent among other spoils to Christina, queen of Sweden, who 
presented it to the Eoyal Library at Stockholm. Vossius, the keeper of that library, by some means 
now unknown, possessed himself of the codex, and took it in 1655 to Holland. Here it was borrowed 
by his uncle Junius for the purpose of publication, as will hereafter be mentioned. Puffendorf, who 
in 1662 was travelling through Holland, purchased it for the Swedish Count de la Gardie; the 
purchase money was 400 rix-dollars. The count had it bound in silver, and presented it to the Royal 
Library at Upsal, where it is still carefully preserved in a glass box, under lock and key; and no one, 
whatever be his rank, is allowed access to it, but as a great favour, and in presence of the chief 
librarian. This jealous care appears to have arisen from eleven leaves having been stolen by some 
one who examined it. Gabelenz and Loebe, however, were allowed the free use of the MS. 

Another Gothic Codex was discovered in 1756 in the Ducal Library at Wolfenbuttel, in the 
duchy of Brunswick, by Knittel, archdeacon and counsellor of the consistory of that city. This 
MS. contains part of Ulphilas' version of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans (namely, part of the 11th 
and following chapters, as far as the 13th verse of the 15th chapter), with a parallel Latin version. It 
is familiarly known as the " Codex Carolinus," which name it received in honour of Charles, duke of 
Brunswick, the patron of Knittel. The text of this MS. was expunged during the eighth or ninth 
century, to make room for a Latin work, the Origines of Isidore of Seville in Spain, which was written 
over it on the same vellum. The letters of this latter composition, however, faded, and Knittel was 
thus enabled to detect the vestiges of the original writing, which had not been completely obliterated. 
The characters are similar to those of the Codex Argenteus, but not so beautifully formed. 

Other fragments of the Gothic version have been since discovered. In 1817, Angelo Mai, then 
keeper of the Ambrosian Library at Milan, found portions of St. Paul's Epistles under the homilies of 
Gregory the Great on Ezekiel. In subsequent years he discovered other remnants of the version con- 
cealed under various works. Among the most important of his discoveries were passages from the 
Gospels, which supplied chasms in the Codex Argenteus. In other Palimpsest MSS. he found frag- 
ments of the Old Testament, and a Gothic homily, rich in quotations from the version of Ulphilas, 
which have also been used in filling up some of the lacunae in the Upsal MS. 

The first portion of this version committed to the press was the mutilated copy of the Gospels 
contained in the Codex Argenteus. It was printed from a beautiful facsimile MS. made by Derrer, 
but with continual reference to the original codex. It was edited by Junius and Marshall, and pub- 
lished in two volumes 4to., at Dort, in 1665. This edition was provided with an imperfect glossary, 
and contained the Anglo-Saxon and Gothic versions in parallel columns, printed in their original 
characters from types cast for the purpose at Dort. Such copies of the work as remained uncirculated 
were reissued, by means of a new title-page affixed to them in 1684, at Amsterdam. In 1671, 
Stiernhelm published an edition at Stockholm in Roman characters, but it is not esteemed so accurate 
as that of Junius. In addition to the Gothic, the edition of Stiernhelm contains the Icelandic, 



Class III.] GOTHIC. 177 

Swedish, German, and Latin versions. Dr. Eric Benzel, archbishop of Upsal, made a new copy of the 
original Codex, with a literal Latin translation, and prepared it for the press. He wished to publish 
the whole MS. in facsimile, engraved on wood: a specimen which he had thus engraved was published 
in 1705. After his death, his MS. was edited and published by Lye at Oxford, in 1750, in royal 
quarto. This edition is in Gothic letters, and has a short but very imperfect Gothic grammar prefixed 
by Mr. Lye. 

In 1762, Knittel published the first impression of the Codex Carolinus, with several other 
fragments connected with biblical criticism, especially the text of two Palimpsest MSS. of part of the 
Gospels in Greek. The whole was accompanied by an elaborate commentary, and is esteemed very 
correct; but, for want of sale, many copies were used as waste paper, and the twelve copper-plates 
employed in printing were sold for old copper: this edition is consequently scarce. The Codex 
Carolinus was reprinted at Upsal in 1763, by Ihre, a learned Swede: this edition was in quarto, and 
consisted of ninety pages : it was in Eoman characters, and accompanied by a Latin version and notes. 
Another impression of this Codex has been given by Manning in the appendix to his edition of Lye's 
Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, printed in 1772. The Codex was again printed in 1773, by Busching, at 
Berlin. 

A corrected and very important edition of the fragments of Ulphilas, including those of the 
Codex Argenteus, was published by Zahn, at Weissenfels, in 1805, from a revised text which had been 
carefully prepared by Ihre, and from which he had expunged errors of preceding editors. This work 
comprises critical annotations on the text, a Latin version by Ihre, a literal interlinear Latin version, a 
grammar and glossary by Fulda, and a history of the version by Zahn. 

In 1819 some extracts from the Ambrosian Palimpsest MSS. were published, with a Latin 
version, by Mai and Castiglione, at Milan. Ten years afterwards, Count Castiglione published the 
Second Epistle to the Corinthians, from one of the codices discovered by Mai; and in 1834 he pub- 
lished, at Milan, the Epistle to the Romans, the First Epistle to the Corinthians, and the Epistle to 
the Ephesians. 

During the same year (1834.) a work was published by H. F. Massmann at Munich, containing 
a Gothic Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, with a Latin translation, and several critical 
appendages of great service in the study of the Gothic codices. In 1835, Castiglione published the 
Epistles to the Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 Thessalonians ; and in 1839 he published 
2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus. This completed the publication of the fragments that 
had been discovered. 

Two editions of the version of the Gospel according to St. Matthew yet remain to be noticed: the 
first was published from the Codex Argenteus in London, in 1807, by Samuel Henshall, with the cor- 
responding English, or Saxon, from the Durham book of the eighth century, and various etymological 
dissertations. The other separate editions of this Gospel appeared at Stuttgart, in 1827. Schmeller, 
the editor, drew the text from the Codex Argenteus and from the fragments of the version discovered 
by Mai: his design in this publication was to compare the version of Ulphilas with the translation of 
the Harmony incorrectly ascribed to Tatian, executed by a Saxon writer of the ninth century, and he 
therefore printed both versions in this volume. 

We now come to the latest and the most complete editions of the remains of the Gothic version. 
One edition comprises all the Gothic fragments of the New Testament then known to be extant, and 
the Skeireins: it is furnished with collations and emendations from MSS. and from various printed 
editions; and also with a glossary, a grammar, learned prolegomena, and various critical annotations. 
This valuable work was published at Leipsic, between the years 1836 and 1847: it was edited by 
Dr. H. C. de Gabelenz and Dr. J. Loebe. The editors recollated the MSS. at Upsal and Wolfenbuttel, 
and corrected many errors of previous editions: the Milan MSS. were re-examined for this work by 
Count Castiglione. This edition has, therefore, superseded all that went before it. A small and 
not very accurate edition was published by Gaugengigl, at Passau, in 8vo., 1848; from which our 

13 



178 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



[Class III. 



specimen is taken. It contains fragments of trie Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon; also from 
the Old Testament, and the Skeireins, or exposition of St. John's Gospel. A better edition has lately 
been published at Stuttgardt, by Massmann, in one volume, 8vo. 



ALEMANNIC, OH OLD HIGH GERMAN, 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1, &c. 



Er alien uuorolt kreftin, 

joh engilo gisceftin, 
So rumo ouh so mahton, 

man ni mag gidrahton 
Er so ioh himil uuurti, 

joh erda ouh so herti. 
Ouh uuiht in thiu gifuarit 

thaz siu ellu thriu ruarit 
So uuas io uuort uuonanti, 

er alien zitin uuorolti. 
Thaz uuir nu sehen offan, 

thaz uuas thanne ungiscafan. 
Er alleru anagifti, 

theru Druhtines giscefti, 
So uuas iz mit gilusti 

in theru Druhtines brusti. 
Iz uuas mit Druhtine sar, 

ni brast imo es io thar. 



Ante omnes mundi vires, 

et Angelos creatos 
Turn spatium turn potentias, 

nemo potest concipere, 
Antequam coelum factum 

ac terra atque mare horridum, 
Et quicquid in his productum, 

quod haec omnia tria movet, 
Erat verbum habitans 

ante omnia secula mundi. 
Qu£e nunc conspicimus palam 

erant tunc nondum creata. 
Ante principium omnium 

Domini creaturarum, 
Erat id cum jucunditate 

in Domini pectore. 
Erat cum Domino illico 

nee defecit ipsi unquam. 



OEATIO DOMINICA ALEMANICE, MAEG. EEEHEEI NOTIS EXPOSITA. 1609. 

EX S. GALLI VETUSTISSIHO CODICE M.S. 

Father vnseer thv pist in himile. Vvihi namvn dinan. Qhveme rihi din. vverde 
vvillo din so in himile, sosa in erdv. prooth vnseer emezhic kip vns hivtv. oblaz vns 
scvldi vnsecro, so wir oblazen vns scvldiken. enti ni vnsih firletti in khorvnka. vzz 
erlosi vnsih fona vbile. 

This ancient language was spoken by a people of the Teutonic, or High German race, who at one 
period of their history were called the Suevi, or Suabians, probably from their having settled near 
the Baltic, then known as the Mare Suevicum, or Suabian Sea. In the beginning of the third 
century they migrated to the borders of the Roman empire, between the Danube, the Rhine, and the 
Main, and they there associated themselves with other Germanic tribes, forming a confederacy to 
which the designation of Alemannic was subsequently applied. The modern Germans, who are 



Class III.] ALEMANNIC. 179 

partly descended from these confederated tribes, are still called Alemanni (or Allemands) by the 
French and Spanish. 

This language appears to have been in use from the sixth to the eleventh or twelfth century, nor 
can it even yet be said to be extinct, for it is still spoken with slight modifications in the north of 
Switzerland, Alsace, the grand duchy of Baden, Wurtemburg, Bavaria, the Tyrol, and Styria. In 
this ancient dialect we can distinctly trace the rudiments of the modern German; its chief peculiarities 
consist in the prevalence of the first vowel a, which is generally used in cases where the modern 
Germans use e; and in the general substitution of the diphthong au for the German o. It is a corruption 
of the Gothic, and called Old High German. Its next altered state is named Middle High German; 
and lastly German, in its present state. 

The earliest and most important monument of this language which has been transmitted to our 
times is a Harmony of the Gospels, composed by Otfrid, a Benedictine monk of Weissenburg in 
Alsace, about the year 870. We are told of this Otfrid that " he was profoundly versed in the know- 
ledge of the Holy Scriptures, and extensively acquainted with literature in general; a philosopher, a 
rhetorician, and a famous poet; eloquent in speech, and excellent in disposition." His Harmony is 
written in verse, and is the first German poem in which rhyme is introduced; all previous poetical 
compositions adopting alliteration instead of rhyme. His chief motive in composing it was, as he 
himself tells us, to provide a substitute for the vain and worldly songs which his countrymen were 
in the habit of singing. This work can scarcely be called a translation, for although it relates the 
facts of the Saviour's life as recorded by the four evangelists, yet the events are not ranged in chrono- 
logical order, but seem to be related as they occurred to the memory of the writer. There are three 
MSS. of this work extant, preserved at Munich, Heidelberg, and Vienna. It was first printed at Basle 
in 1571, and in Schilter's Thes. vol. i. with Scherz's annotations. It was afterwards published at Bonn 
in 1821 ; and again at Konigsberg, in 1831, under the title of Krist. 

The gradual transition of Alemannic into pure High German may be traced by means of the 
Alemannic version of the Psalms, executed by Notker, abbot of St. Gallen, in Switzerland. He is 
said to have undertaken the work for the benefit of the monks under his care, that they might under- 
stand what they read. This Kotker is distinguished from others of the same name by the surname of 
Labeo, given to him on account of his thick lips. He died in 1022. Besides the Psalms he translated 
the book of Job, but this version is lost. His translation of the Psalms is in prose, and is much 
valued on account of its grammatical accuracy, its eloquence, and its faithfulness. It was published by 
Schilter, in his Thesaurus, at Him, 1726. 

The Paraphrase of the Canticles, by Willeram, may be here mentioned. Willeram was abbot of 
Ebersberg in Bavaria, and died 1085. Between the years 1070 and 1084 he composed a prose para- 
phrase of the Canticles in the Francic (a dialect akin to the Alemannic), accompanied by a rhythmical 
Latin version. This work was published at Leyden in 1598, edited by P. Merula, and at Worms in 
1631, under the editorship of F. Vogelin. It also appeared in Schilter's Thesaurus; and was again 
published by Hoffman, at Breslau, in 1827. 

FEANCIC SONG OF SONGS .-Chap, ii., v. 1 to 4.-[Bbeslatt, 1827.] 

WILLIBAll's UEBEESETZUNG UND AUSLEGUND DES HOHENLIEDES IN DOPPELTEN TEXTEN ATJS DEB BEESLAUEB TJND 

LEIDENEB HAXDSCHBIFT HEBAUSGEGEBEX OTD MIT EINEX VOLLSTAENDIGEX WOEBTEEBr/CHE 

VEBSCHEX VOX DE. H. HOFFMAXX. — CODEX VEATISLATIEXSIS. 

Fh bin ueltbluoma unte lilia dero telero. 2 A'lso diu lilia ist linter den dornon, samo 
bist du, friuntin min^ unter anderen tobteron. 3 Min uuine ist unter anderen luiten, samo 
affaltera unter andremo uvaltholza. I'h saz unter sinemo scate, des ib ie gerota unte 
sines obezes nietet mih. 4 Der ciining leitota mih in sinen vninkellare, unte vvista mih, 
uvie ih minnan sule. 



180 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

NOTKEES ALEMANNIC.-Ulmje, 1726. 

PSALM XXIV. 

Truhtenis ist diu erda, unde iro fulli. Sin ist der erdering unde alle die dar 
anabuent. 2 En gestata sia obe dien merewazzeren. Unde obe dien ahon machota er 
sia. 3 Uuer gesteig uf in Gotes perg ? aide uuer ist dar stahe in sinero heiligun stete ? 
4 Daz ist der unsundigo in sinen uuerchen, unde der reino in seinen gedanchen. Der sina 
sela ne ahtot in bosheite. Noli in undriunuon ne suuor sinemo gelegenen. 5 Der so 
getano infahet segen fone Gote, unde irbarmida fone sinemo haltare. 6 Daz ist diu geburt 
dero Got suochenton, dero suochenton Gotes masiune des Jacobis Got is. 7 Neraent furder 
lantheren iuuuere portas. Unde ufhenent inh enuige portas. Unde dien gestalten Kat 
in ze in der chuning dero guollichi. 8 Uuer ist diser guollicho chuning ? Truhten der 
starcho unde der mahtigo, Truhten mah tiger in uuige. 9 Nement portas iuuueres fursten. 
Unde uuerdent ir usirrihtet, euuiges rentes portas. Unde dar gattanne in zu, der chuning, 
10 Truhten dero chresto, der ist chuning dero guollichi. 

EVANG. MATTJL^I FEAGMENTA ALEMANICE.-CViennje, 1841.] 
Chap. 12, v. 14 to 18. 

Uuidar imo huueo sie inan forleosan mahtin. 15 Jesus auh wuista iz, fuor danan enti 
folgetun imo menace enti aer gaheilta siae alle, 16 enti gabot im, daz sie inan ni martin, 
17 daz arfullit uurti dhaz gaquefcm uuart durah forasagun esaiam quuedawtan : 18 See miin 
sunu, den ih gaclios, minan leoban, in imo galihheta mineru seulu. Seczu ih minan gheist 
ubar'man, Enti miin urteili chundit deotum. 

DEUTSCHE INTEELINEARVERSIONEN DEE PSALMEN. AUS EINER WINDBERGER HANDSCHRIFT ZU MUNCHEN UND 
EINER HANDSCHRIFT ZU TRIER, ZUM ERSTEN MALE HERAUSGEGEBEN VON E. G. GRAFF. 

[QUEDLINBURG UND LEIPZIG, 1839.] 

WINDBEEGEE INTEELINEAEVEESION DEE PSALMEN.-PSALM xxxix., v. 1 to 4. 

Ih sprah : ih behuote wege mine daz niht ih missetuo an zungen miner. 2 Ih fazte 
munde minem huote, so gestuonte der suntoere wider mir. 3 Ih erstummete unde genideret 
bin unde gesuicte uone den guoten unde ser min eriteniuwet ist. 4 Erwarmete herce min 
innerhalbe min unde in denchunge — ahtunge — miner embrinnit daz fiur. 

INTEELINEAEVEESION DEE PSALMEN IM COD. TEEVIE.— PSALM xxxix., v. 1 to 4. 

Ich sprach : ich wil behuden wege mine daz nut misseduch an zungen miner. 2 Ich 
han gesezet munde mime hude, biz gestunde der sundere wider mir. 3 Ich uirstumite 
unde gedemuteget bin unde sweich uon den guden unde ser minaz irnuweret ist. 
4 Irwarmit ist herce min in mir unde in gedenkungen miner sol inbrinnen daz fur. 



Class III.] 



GERMAN. 



181 



GERMAN. 

SPECIMENS, FEOM St. JOHN. Crap. i. v. 1 to 14. 



Ltjther, Leipsic, 1825. 

3m Qlttfcmg war bag QBort, unb bag 3Bort war be!) ©ott, 
unb ©ott war bag 9Sort. 

2 ©affeibige war im 2tnfang bety ®ott. 

3 Qifle 2)inge ftnb burcb, baffe(6ige gemacr/t, unb of)ne 
baffelbige ift ntcfytg gemac^t, wag gemacf/t ift. 

4 3n ir)m war bag £eben, unb bag £eben war bag 
fiidjt ber 2)ienfcr/en. 

5 Unb bag 2ict/t fct)cinet in ber ounfternifj, unb bie 
ounfternifi t)aben eg nicr/t begriffen. 

6 (Sg war etn 2Kenfd? oon ©ott gefanbt, ber tyiefi 
3ct)anneg. 

7 ©erfelbige tarn jum 3euanif , bafj er Don bem iHcb,t 
jeugete, auf bap fie afle burcb, if)n gtaubten. 

8 @r war nicf/t bag Sicfyt, fonbern bafj er jeugete Oon 
bent fiicfyt. 

9 "Dag war bag waf)rf)aftige 2icf/t, weld)eg atte 2)?enfd)en 
erteucfytet, bie in biefe QMt fommen. 

10 gg war in ber 9Mt, unb bie 3Mt ift burcr) baf* 
fetbige gemacf/t ; unb bie 3Bett fannte eg nicfyt. 

1 1 Sr f am in fein digentfjum, unb bie ©einen naf)mcn 
tt)n nicfyt auf. 

12 2Bie otete ir)n aber aufnat)men, benen gab er 2JJad)t, 
©otteg Jtinber ju werben, bie an feinen Seamen gtauben. 

13 2Betcr)e nicfjt son bem ©eblitt, nocfy oon bem 93iflen 
beg ^teifcfyeg, nocb, oon bem ©illen eineg -Kamteg, fonbern 
Oon ©ott geboren ftnb. 

14 Unb bag SBort warb Sleifct), unb wofmete unter 
ung, unb wir faf)en feine <§errlict)fett, eine ^errticf/feit 
alg beg eingebornen @ob,neg com 33ater, cotter ©nabe 
unb SCBa^r^eit. 



Van Ess, Sulbach, 1842. 

3m Qlnfange war bag SSort, unb bag 9Bort war bei ©ott; 
unb ©ott war bag SBort. 

2 2)tefj war im 2(nfange bet ©ott. 

3 Qttteg ift burcb, baffelbe erfct/affen, unb otme baffelbe 
ift nicf/tg, wag ba ift, erfcfyaffen. 

4 3n tfjm war Seben, unb bag Seben war bag Sict/t 
ber -Kenfcb/en. 

5 5)iefj Sict)t leuct/tet in ber Srinfternif; ; aber bie 
Snnfternifj fafite eg nicfyt. 

6 (?g war ein -Kenfct/ oon ©ott gefanbt, SRameng 
So^anneg. 

7 SHefer trat $um 3eugnifj auf, urn Oon bem fiicb/te 5U 
jeugen, bamit Q(Ce buret? ifm gtaubten. 

8 (Ex fetbft war nict/t bag £icf/t ; nur fottte er jeugen 
oon bem fiicb/te. 

9 @g war bag wat)re fiictjt, bag jeben SKenfcf/en er= 
Ieucr)tet, ber in bie SEBett fommt. 

1 (&x war in ber SBelt ; unb bie 58ett ift buret? tt)n 
erfcbaffen ; bod) erfannte bie 9Belt i^n nicf/t. 

11 (?r fam in bag ©einige; aQein bie ©einigen 
nat)mcn ir)n nicfyt auf ■ 

12 wie 23 tele i^n aber aufnatjmen, benen gab er bag 
93orrecfyt, ^inber ©otteg ju werben, benen namlict/, weldje 
an feinen Stamen glauben ; 

13 weldje nicf/t aug bem ©eblitte, nicb,t nacr) bem 
SSilien beg O'leifct^eg, nocb, nac^ bem SBitten eineg SKanneg, 
fonbern oon ©ott geboren finb. 

14 Sag 3Bort wurbe Srteifd), unb wo^nte unter ung, 
(wir fa^en feine <§errlicb,feit, eine <§errlicbfeit, wie beg 
(gingebornen som 33ater) OoO ©nabe unb 2Ba^r^eit. 



I. GEOGRAPHICAL, EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The limits of Germany have varied considerably at different eras of its history. It now consists, 
politically, of a confederation of thirty-five independent sovereignties and four free cities. The terri- 
tories of this confederation include an area of 244,600 English square miles, and a population of 
43,000,000. The population is composed partly of the Germanic, partly of the Sclavonic, and partly 
of the Greco-Latin race: the Germanic race, however, preponderates, for about four- fifths of the 
inhabitants of Germany are of German extraction. The whole of Austria Proper, and the greater part 
of Styria and of the Tyrol, are occupied by Germans; but they form a minority of the population 
in Illyria, Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. German is the predominant language throughout 
the German states properly so called; it also prevails in the north of Switzerland, and in the 
German colonies in various parts of Kussia. Calvinism, Lutheranism, and Roman Catholicism, are 
all professed in Germany; but at least one half of the inhabitants are said to be Roman Catholics, 
and this form of religion predominates in the Austrian states. Calvinism and Lutheranism have for 



182 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



[Class III. 



some years been united, in almost all the other 
Church. 

Gosnee, Munich, 1836. 

3m $lnfange war bag SSDOIS, unb bag SBort war Bety 
©ott, unb bag 2Bort war ©ott. 

2 2)agfeI6e war im 5lnfange Bety ©ott. 

3 Qifleg ifi burd) bagfelBe gemacbt, unb oljne bagfelBe 
ifi nicfytg gemadjt, wag ba gemadjt ifi. 

4 3n Sfjm war bag SeBen, unb bag SeBen war bag 
Sirfit ber 2Wenfdjen. 

5 Unb bag Slcfyt teuctytete in ber ^infiernifi, aBer bie 
Stnjternif t;at eg nidjt Begriffen. 

6 Sg war ein -LTOenfd? oon ©ott gefanbt, ber t)k$ 
3ol;anneg. 

7 2)ie[er Jam jum Scugniffo urn Qeugnifi ju geBcn 
iwn bem £id;te, bamit atte burd) tt)n glauBen molten. 

8 (Sr felBfi war ntdjt bag £ld;t ; fonbern nur Seugnif; 
fotlte er com Sidjte geBen. 

9 £)ag [SEQort] ift bag watjre Sidjt, bag atte SKenfdjen 
erleucfytet, bie in btefe 2BeIt fommen. 

10 dx war in ber Sffielt, unb bie SBelt ifi burd? 36,n 
gemadjt, unb bie SBelt erfannte 31)n nicfyt. 

11 dx Jam in fetn @igentf)um, unb bie ©einigen 
nafjmen 3lm nid)t auf. 

12 Qlden aBer bie 3im aufnatjmen, gaB Gr 2JJad)t, 
Jtinber ©otteg ju werben, benen namlid), bie an feinen 
Xiamen glauBen, 

13 2>ie nid)t aug Slut, nid)t aug bem ©Men beg 
ftieifcfyeg, nidjt aug bem ^Bitten beg 2)tonneg, fonbern aug 
©ott geBoren finb. 

14 Unb bag SBort ifi Sleifd) geworben, unb Ijat unter 
ung gewofjnt (wir fatjen feine >§errltd?feit, eine <§errlid)= 
feit, wie fie ber (JingeBorne beg SSaterS f)at,) tioG ©nabe 
unb SBa^eit. 



states, under the denomination of the Evangelical 

Kistemakek, Munster, 1848. 

3m Qlnfang war bag SBort ■ unb bag SBort war 6ei ©ott ; 
unb ©ott war bag 2Bort. 

2 2>iefeg war im 5lnfang Bei ©ott. 

3 5ttleg ift burd} 2)affeI6ige gemadjt ; unb otyne 5)affek 
Bige ifi ntdjtg gemadjt, wag gemadjt ifi. 

4 3n 31jm war bag SeBen, unb bag £eBen war bag 
Sid)t ber STOenfcfyen. 

5 Unb bag £id)t fcfyeinet in ber Sinjiernifi; unb bie 
fftnfiemifj fyat ©affelBige ntdjt erfaffet. 

6 (gg war ein SKenfd), gefanbt oon ©ott ; fein STtame 
war: Soljanneg. 

7 ©iefer fam jum 3eugnifi, bamit er $eugcte ton bem 
fitdjt, auf bafj alle glauBen wiirben burd) i^n. 

8 ®r war nidjt bag Sicfytj fonbern bamit er geugete 
oon bem Sidjt. 

9 £>ag war bag watyr^aftige fiidjt, SBeldjeg erleudjtet 
jeben 5)?enfd)en, ber in btefe Sffiett fommt. 

10 3n ber SHSelt war (Sr; unb bie SBelt ifi burd? 3^n 
gemacfyt worben ; unb bie SBelt fannte 3f>n nid)t. 

11 Qx Jam in ®etn (Sigent^um; unb bie ©einen 
na^men 3|n nid^t auf. 

12 UBie oiet 3^n aBer aufna^men, benen gaB (Sr 
2)fad}t, Jtinber ©otteg ju werben, benjenigen, bie an 
<Seinen SRamen glauten ; 

13 weld^e nidjt aug bem ©eWut, nod) aug bem SSillen 
beg 5Ieifd)eg, nod} aug bem SBillen eineg Cannes, fonbern 
aug ©ott geioren finb. 

14 Unb bag SBort ifi Sleifd} geworben; unb @g ' 
wo^nete unter ung: unb wir fat)en @etne >§errlid)feit eine 
^errlid)feit alg teg Singeoornen oom 3Sater, soil ©nabe 
unb 28a^r^eit. 



II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The German language branches off into two grand divisions, the High German, or Hoch Deutsch, 
distinguished by its rough, guttural sounds, and the Low German, or Nieder Deutsch, characterised 
by a softer enunciation. The former prevails in Southern, and the latter in Northern, Germany, and 
both are subdivided into several minor dialects. One language, however, pervades all Germany as the 
medium of intercourse between the educated classes, and as the language of religion, legislation, and 
literature : this language, called by way of pre-eminence the German, was originally merely a dialect of 
Hoch Deutsch, and was spoken in the circle of Misnia in Saxony. It was the native dialect of Luther, 
and to the influence of that great man is to be ascribed its present predominance. 

The primitive elements of Modern German are to be found in the Gothic, the Francic, and more 
especially the Alemannic dialects. Somewhere about the twelfth century the language termed the 
Old High German gradually displaced the more ancient dialects, and in this language the lays of the 
Minnesingers, the troubadours of Germany, were composed. The writings of Luther gave stability to 
his own provincial dialect of this language, and in point of copiousness, vigour and flexibility, though 
in itself a harsh language, it now ranks among the most cultivated tongues of Europe. The character 
in which it is in general written is an ancient form of the Latin, or Roman alphabet; it is called the 
Gothic, and is very similar to Old English. 



Class III.] GERMAN. 183 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

Montfaucon, in his Diarium Italicum, says that there are several ancient Bibles in German pre- 
served in the Vatican Library. But the earliest German version of which anything is known with 
certainty appears to have been executed about A.D. 1405, at the expense of Wenceslaus, emperor of 
Germany; it is in the Vienna Library, and consists of three folio volumes: it contains only the Old 
Testament as far as the end of Ezekiel. Struvius, however, in the introduction to his Historia Literaria 
(sect. 9), speaks of a German Bible of earlier date in the Library of Gotha in Upper Saxony : and a 
triglot version of the Gospels, in German, Bohemian, and Latin, is said to have been in the possession 
of "the good Queen Anne," wife of Bichard II. of England. Several early German versions of the 
Psalms are mentioned by Le Long, and also a translation of the Old Testament as far as Amos, 
executed a.d. 1458. The other principal MSS. enumerated by him are, a version of the Bible in two 
volumes folio, written on vellum in the year 1464, and preserved in the Vienna Library; a Bible in 
the Zurich Library, translated by Nicholas Bruchmal, and bearing date 1472; and a version of the 
Bible from the Vulgate, translated by Melchior Brunus, of Cologne, in 1590. Other translations of the 
Bible, but of a very inferior kind, appeared at Nuremberg in 1477, 1483, 1490, and at Augsburg in 
1518. The first German edition ever issued from the press was that of 1466, translated by an unknown 
writer from the Vulgate : a copy of this scarce work is in the collection of Earl Spencer. 

But the most important version that has ever appeared in Germany, is unquestionably that of 
Luther, the great reformer. Although the New Testament was published as early as the year 1522, 
yet this version still continues to be the standard, not only of the German Scriptures, but of the 
German language. Luther's first biblical publication consisted of the seven penitential Psalms, from 
the Latin of John Beuchlin, which appeared in 1517. His version of the entire Scriptures, which was 
executed immediately from the original text, was issued in successive portions. The Pentateuch was 
published in 1523; the Book of Joshua and the other historical books, the Book of Job, the Psalms, 
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Canticles, followed in 1524; the prophecies of Jonah and Habakkuk 
were published in 1526, and it was not till 1530 that the remaining portions had all issued from the 
press. Melanchthon, and some of the most eminent scholars of Germany, aided in the revision of this 
version. " A select party of learned men at Wittemberg assembled every day with Luther to revise 
every sentence ; and they have been known to return fourteen successive days to the reconsideration of 
a single line, and even of a word." Each individual in this little assembly had a separate task assigned 
him, according to his peculiar qualifications. Luther collated the ancient Latin versions, and the 
Hebrew text; Melanchthon examined the Greek original, Cruciger the Chaldee, and other professors 
referred to the rabbinical writings. Besides Melanchthon and Cruciger, the principal coadjutors in 
this most important undertaking were Justus Jonas, John Bugenhagius or Pomeranus, and Matthew 
Aurogallus. George Rorarius was the corrector of the press. The revised edition of the entire Bible 
was published in 1530, and again in 1534, 1541, and 1545. Luther is said to have devoted the 
greatest care to the revision of the edition of 1541 ; he had it printed in two folio volumes, ornamented 
with woodcuts; and a copy of this edition, which was constantly used by him, and which was in fact 
his own copy, after having passed through several hands, is now deposited in the British Museum. 

Immediately on the publication of Luther's version, other translations were undertaken on its 
basis by friends of the Eeformation. A version in the Low German, or Saxon dialect, executed at 
the suggestion of Luther, was published almost simultaneously with his own: Bugenhagius superin- 
tended the work, and the first edition was printed in 1533^4, at Lubeck. Aversion in the Pomeranian 
dialect was made from Luther's Bible, by command of Bogislaus XIII., duke of Pomerania, and printed 
in 1545. In 1525-1529, a translation was published at Zurich, for which Luther's version, so far as it 
was then printed, was also used. A revision of this German version was published at Zurich in 1667, 
by Hottinger, M idler, Zeller, and others; and so many were the alterations and corrections introduced, 
that it was regarded as a new translation; and it is still generally called the New Zurich Bible, to 
distinguish it from the first edition. The original texts, Luther's German, and Diodati's Italian, 



184 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

versions, the Scptuagint, the Latin, and the Belgian Bible, were consulted during the progress of this 
revision. Another version in the German dialect was published in 1602-1604, by John Piscator, from 
the Latin version of Junius and Tremellius. 

The publication of Luther's version was, likewise, the proximate cause of the production of other 
German translations, even by the enemies of the Eeformation. Emser, one of the counsellors of George, 
duke of Saxony, was the first who undertook a new translation with the view of disparaging that of 
Luther. He did not, however, succeed in his design, his version when completed proving, says Milner, 
to be little. more than a transcript of Luther's, some alterations in favour of the peculiar tenets of the 
Church of Rome alone excepted. Yet several editions of Emser's New Testament were speedily printed ; 
and, in 1530, the monks of Rostock published a version of it in the dialect of Lower Saxony. In 
these later editions, various alterations were made, causing them to differ exceedingly from those of an 
earlier date. 

A German version of the whole Bible was next undertaken, at the request of Albert II., by John 
Dietenburg, a Dominican monk, with the same design of counteracting the labours of Luther. It was 
printed in folio at Mentz, in 1534. In this version Dietenburg had no recourse to the Hebrew and 
Greek originals, with which he confessed himself unacquainted, and, like Emser, he only succeeded in 
producing a bad transcript of Luther; so that the truth triumphed in consequence of the very efforts 
made to subvert it, and the version of Luther was read and studied in the pages of his enemies. 
Dietenburg's version has gone through many editions. Eighteen editions were published at Cologne 
from 1550 to 1702, and others at Mentz and at Nuremberg. 

Another of Luther's opponents, John Eckius, of Ingoldstadt, in Bavaria, published a German 
translation of the Old Testament in 1537, to which he subjoined a corrected edition of Emser's version 
of the New Testament. It is without the name of the place or printer, and is dedicated to the Arch- 
bishop of Saltzburg. Several editions were afterwards published, and in 1602 the version was corrected 
according to the Sixtine edition of the Vulgate. A version of the Old and New Testaments was made 
immediately from this edition of the Vulgate in 1630 by Casper Ulenberg, under the patronage of 
Ferdinand, archbishop and elector of Cologne: this version has gone through numerous editions. 
Another version of the Vulgate was published by Kistemaker at Munster, in 1825. 

In 1806, in consequence of the impulse given to the circulation of the Scriptures by the rise 
of the British and Foreign Bible Society, a Roman Catholic Bible Society was formed at Ratisbon, and, 
under the direction of Regens Wittman and other Catholic clergymen, an edition of the New Testament 
from the Vulgate was published in 1808. In 1813, this version had reached the eighth edition, and 
the copies had found a ready sale among the Catholics of Bavaria, Suabia, Franconia, and Switzerland. 
About the year 1812, another translation of the New Testament was executed by two Catholic clergy- 
men, Charles and Leander Van Ess, from the Greek text. The British and Foreign Bible Society 
assisted liberally in the publication and circulation of the numerous editions through which this version 
has passed. Another Roman Catholic clergyman, named Gosner, printed a German version at Munich 
in 1815. An edition, in 32mo., of Kistemaker's New Testament was recently printed by the British 
and Foreign Bible Society, for the benefit of Roman Catholics, and a translation of the Psalms into 
German, by the late Dr. Van Ess, for the use of Roman Catholics, has also been adopted by the 
Society. 

Up to the beginning of 1860, the total number of copies of the German Scriptures printed directly 
for the British and Foreign Bible Society embraced 1,036,097 Bibles, and 1,357,453 Testaments; 
besides 1,131,779 copies of the Testament and Psalms, together with 148,998 portions of the Old 
Testament; and 1600 New Testaments, with 5000 Old Testaments, in Hebrew characters. 



Class III.] GERMAN. !85 

LOW-GERMAN BIBLE OE HALBERSTADT. 1522.— SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, c. i. v. 1 to 8. 

3'Jl beme ambegtmne rcag bat Wlcxt, unb bat SBort rcag bl) ®obe, un @cbt rca§ bat SBort. 2 SDatt) rcag Sm beme 
ambegsmne bty ®obe, 3 oorm^bbelfl 6m fimt aOe bincf gemafet, un gunber one S)6 nid)t gemafet. 4 2)at bar S)g 
gemafet i)it bme, bat rcag bat leuent, unb bat leuenb wag ein fycfyt bet nt*)nfd)e, 5 un bat ls)dit lucfjtet i ben bufterniffen, 
unb be bufierniffe begrebe beg nict/t. 6 @i)n m^nfcfje rcag gt)cfenb oan ®obe, beg name rcag 3ot)aneg. 7 £>uffe fam 
iju eine getudmtffe ub batt) fye gt)ene tudjentffe oan behjdjte, bat ge atte gelouebe bord) one. 8 >§e rcag nict)t bat fydtt, men 
bat l)e geoe tudmijfe oan bem Igdjte. 

LOW-GERMAN BIBLE IN A DIALECT APPROACHING THE DUTCH, cibca 1480. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 7. 

3Dt beme anbeg»)ime (bat ig in bem gottifen rcefen beg afmedjtigen baberg in ber ercict)eit) rcag bat SQort (bat ig g*n 
esmgebaren goen), enbe bat QBort rcag bi) ®abe : en ®ob rcag bat ffiort (rcant in bem Oaber ig bat rcefen beS gong in 
naturen in guneerr)eit ber perfonen), 2 bat (QBort) was in bem ambegsmne (in ercid)ei)t), bi) ®at'ix (bem baeber). 
3 2)ord) en simt allebinf gemacft : enbe Sunberen en ig nict gemaft. 4 Sat baer ig gemaft rcag in em esm leuen 
(rcant in be rcefen b?g SEortg entfange atte creaturen er leuen), ence bat leuen (bat is be soen @abeg), rcag ebn lidjt ber 
nti)nfd)en : 5 enbe bat Hdjte tudjtet in ber butyfierniffe (beg m»nfd)Iifen geglecb/tes), enbe btye butyfterniffe en begrebe beg 
nict (rcant bat gottife Iid)t beg Oaberg in be goen boed) naturtif oerfrennig nict gefyen en mad? rcerben). 6 Qyn mtyfdje 
(leuenbe na bem leuen eimg minfdie), rcag gefant can ®abe; beg naem rcag 3ot)anneg, 7 befer quant in ei)ii geturfnug : 
op bat fy geue getudmig oan bem lidjte (bat ig oan bem gone ®abes fomenbe in btye rcerlte), bat g$) alte geloueben bord? 
en t)i) (bat ig 3ot)anneg). 

MODERN SAXON, OR COLOGNE DIALECT-SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 13. 

3SR beme ambegine rcag bat SBort un bat 5Bort rcag 6i ®abe. 2 Un ®ob rcag bat raort bat rcag i beme doegljinne bi 
®abe. 3 2>ord) ene gint alle b?cf gemafet, unb an en ig nidjt gfjemafet. 4 S)at bar ig gfjemafet in erne bat rcag bat 
leuen, bnbe bat leuen rcag een lidit ber mimfcften. 5 3Snbe bat lidjt lud;tet in b' bujtermiffen bn be buftermiffen begrebe be3 
nidjt. 6 (Sen msjnfc^e rca§ gBefant 'oa ®abe, be§ namen rca§ 3ol)anneS. 7 3}effe quami i ene gl;e tudjniiffe, Ob bat 
ly geue getuc^mtffe, ba beme ltd? re bat §e alTe gelouebe bord? en. 8 >§e en rca§ nid)t bat lid)t, me bat t)e geue gt)etuct)mijfe 
oa beme tict)te. 9 Sat rcag bat rcae lidjt bat bar rcrlud)tj ene iercelife mifct)e famebe i beffe rcerlt. 10 ^e rca3 i b' 
rcerlt, on be rcerlt ig gemal borcl) en ; bnbe be rcerlt en f anbe en nicfyt. 1 1 «§e quam in fan esjgenbom, bnbe be fine 
entjrenge en nict)t. 12 2)?en be en entfengt)en ben gt)aff fy be gt)erca(t tl)o rcerben be finbere ®abeg ben be bar gt)elouen 
in ftnen namen, 13 be bar nicfyt ftn oan beme blobe, nod? ban beme rcitten beg blefd)e§, nod) oan beme rcille be£ mang, 
[unb' ban ®abe gt)ebaren. 

NIEDERDEUTSCHE PSALMEN AUS DER EAROLININGER ZEIT.-[Beeslau, 1816.] 

PSALM LIV. v. 7 to 9. 

SBdrJKSOtd: uuel fiunbo minon, an unarbeibe tt)iuro te gpreice gia. 8 33uillico Sal ic offran tt)i, in begian gal ic 
namin tt)inin berro, uuanba guot iji. 9 33uanba fan allin arbiibin generebog tu mi : in onir funba mina gcouuuota 
oga min. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OP THE GERMAN VERSION. 
The mighty results of the publication of Luther's version are to be traced throughout the whole 
history of the Reformation in Germany. The effect of recent endeavours to circulate the Scriptures in 
that country has been the conversion of many individuals from the vain theoretical systems of German 



186 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

metaphysicians, to the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ. The results of the labours of the Bible 
Society were "described as follows in 1838, by Dr. Pinkerton, the agent of the Society: — "That we 
have laboured successfully in Germany during the last twenty-four years, against infidelity in every 
form, will not be questioned by. impartial judges; and though the success we have had has not been 
everywhere in proportion to our expectations, yet, be it remembered, it is the return of evangelical 
light to many districts of this country which is daily exposing, more and more, the fearful extent of 
the spiritual darkness in which human systems have involved the present generation. We lament over 
the chaos encompassing us, but we are not in despair; we know and believe that the wisdom and power 
of Divine truth shall finally triumph." The narrative of a visit paid to Brussels, Cologne, and other 
parts of Germany, in the summer of 1852, by the Rev. T. Phillips (given in the 49th Report of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society), supplies many deeply interesting illustrations of the value of the 
labours carried on by the Society's agents in this portion of the continent. 



JEWISH-GEEMAN. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

o'f> nfti W3ii>ttf>7 2 • .mfm tfa ifti wfa 7Jif> pvfo f"'3 "tfn trtfn \fn 7Jif> pito \fn ifa afjpib o'b 
u5fow rfm p5fmi pi)5u uttf laoiwifa w?f> 7Jif> pSfpvi oysboufn pu 7rt van vbbb 3 • .uufu fr"i x>b3rt 

7177 )*fi 13M»D W'i ff>7 7Jlf> 5 *.pMJW ")P7 U5*5 \fa ~>U) ]V3vi ffa 7Jlf> ,|Wu5 $1 "ifiVl OP'f" ]'f> 4 * .13f'f> 

• .ppv wo ivi pirtwi uufa ]p3 Diup ]"f> ">6n pu 6 • .pppnara u3o pv vfo p'j-jpdpj'p f>7 7Jif> ,p'jti>iwp 
pyb rfa v5'3 ito iv 8 " • .pos'iSa pf> pn vbbfi pf>7 ^'tf ,rw:i"3 u3'5 or>7 jf>p tp pfa ,p'J:"i oii of>p W3ii>ny7 ' 
]*f> bn ,oui:5"fnr> jdmup i>iif> pm5pii pl'b rOTpfo-pfm 167 ifai tfa 9 ♦.u5 , i ou7 ]f>p rwri iv pfa profr 
w pw;f>p uirm f"7 7Jif> ; u3f;pw vxzbvwfa -pn ut'f> uinii fW 7Jif> pbvv ivi yb "7611 pu ,0 • .pwf>p uii?n f>*7 
/ pr>nfop , if> 7i>3f> pfi y-ip'p f»»n I2 • ?pfi u5'J p'fi pppfo |w»i fi'7 7Jif> powwfi p yb of>p 7u " *.u5o 
PP7 )u5i*fl' DU7 |fip u5*j r»5inn 13 *.]wi5j pr>^ jw»t |f) f>7 ]MU7 ;p77rm 1: 7ir»'p pwufa ,u5fo 71; 36a ]wir7 

7)lf> ,0"ip 77^1 V~lfa) lf>7 73lf» M ♦.73'[ pTfoM UUfcl ]f>P pir»f>l ,PW:fo PM"f> pii'l 0177 ]f>P T,f>i ,PUD"ip 

,7i>uf>p of>p pwpfit ]wofi3Pi:*'6 pU7 pif> I3"p5'inyp wf> ,D"p5'577W wi prtft 7')i 7:if> ,t:if> ivvrt uuw?f>)i 

*.0"5TWftl 7Jlf> 177fal ^iifip 

Although the language of the .German Jews differs from pure German only in the circumstance of 
its being written in Hebrew characters, yet, as these Jews form an important and distinctive section of 
the dispersed people of Israel, the several versions executed or printed by them, and for their special 
benefit, may be entitled to a separate consideration. The number of these Jews settled in the Austrian 
states has been computed at 700,000: until within the last two centuries their condition was degraded 
and pitiable in the extreme, and their character became enfeebled under the manifold sufferings they 
were called to undergo: in the words of their historian, " they became divested of natural feeling, 
absorbed in pecuniary interest and self-preservation, and even accustomed to their servile and abject 
position." They are now happily released from the persecutions by which their existence was formerly 
rendered so wretched, as to be justly termed, by a contemporary historian, " a mass of suffering;" but 



Class III.] JEWISH-GERMAN. 187 

it is remarkable, that they ai*e now said to be characterised by a tendency to " merge Mosaic as well as 
Talmudic Judaism in a philosophical and social Pantheism." 

The first portion of the Scriptures translated and published expressly for the German Jews con- 
sisted of the Pentateuch and Megilloth (i. e. Euth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Canticles), 
an edition of which was printed in Hebrew characters at Cremona, in Italy, in 1542 : the author of 
this translation is unknown, but it is attributed to Elias Levita, a celebrated Jewish grammarian. Two 
years afterwards a version of the Pentateuch, the Megilloth, and the Haphtoroth (lessons from the 
Prophets appointed to be read in the synagogues), was made by Michael Adam, a converted Jew, and 
an edition was printed at Constance. The first four chapters of Genesis were printed at the same place, 
in 1543, from the German- Jewish translation; and the books of Exodus, Joshua, Ezckiel, and Canticles, 
appeared at Prague in 1553. Some separate books of the Old Testament were likewise published by 
R. R. Nathan, F. E. Michol, Mardochaeus, F. Jacob, and others. 

The first edition of the German New Testament in rabbinical characters was printed at Cracow, in 
1540: the work was executed by Johan Hersuge, a converted Jew, on the basis of Luther's version; 
but the book of Revelation is omitted. Five books of the New Testament (namely, St. Luke, St. John, 
Acts, Romans, Hebrews, and part of the first and second chapters of St. Matthew) were translated into 
German by Elias Schadaeus, a German pastor of the church of Strasburg, chiefly from Luther's version ; 
and an edition was printed at Strasburg, in 1592: a tract on the conversion of the Jews was appended 
to the work. 

In 1820 the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the, Jews' undertook to furnish 
the German Jews with copies of the German Scriptures in rabbinical characters. The Society's first 
edition of the New Testament appeared in 1820: the German text from which it was taken was the 
edition of Luther's version published by Senator Von Meyer, at Frankfort, in 1819, and the transcription 
into rabbinical characters was made by Mr. Judah D'Allemand, of London. With respect to the 
effects produced by the dissemination of this version, it has been stated that " those who have gone over 
to the Protestant Church' from the synagogue have been more numerous during the last few years in 
Germany than they ever were elsewhere or before." The number of Jews baptized in Germany during 
the last twenty years is estimated at 5000; and the sincerity of some among them has been attested by 
the irreproachable tenor of jjheir conduct, and by the devotedness with which they have preached the 
new covenant of grace in Christ Jesus. 



188 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

JUDE O-P OLI SH. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

]f> yfi nfm 'joJdi Df>7 2 : ofa -tfn unfm z>fin ';if> ,pfu p«p "tfm mft) of>7 ':if» ,mpi) ofa ->f»n jsfip ]f> j»f» 
nfti o'fi |'f> 4 : p5p>:i vfi ofni ,p5p>;i pd'j ->f»a "rfm o*f> ;p 'jif 1 ; v5fim d'P - pi7 -)f>n D'5f> 3 : ufa d»p ^f>? 
D-rwprp f"7 ';ifi ,D»r)Dprp n7 yfi w»d u5'5 of>7 'jifi 5 : yvawv fin ]ip u5-i of>7 nfai ppi pfa 'sifi pvb zfii 
if> ,bwJ yfi i3 jwp'j rf> ")i»7 7 : ppv |D"P»j upp Dfm ,up'Dy pfo jip ]fo yfi nfi)) fin 6 : )p-ot p>j dp pfo 
p"i'3 )i np'D'j nfm -}i> p7^it ,u5'i zfii vS'3 ifiw i\n 8 : o'fi Jin p-ij ybfi\ >bfi \fi ,u5»5 dot jvipii p»i'3 ifr -)P 
•tfn tp 10 : pf> pJph 77 )»p ppip dph dpjw p'bvfi vy>b dph ,p5»i ncfti DP7 if>n sfa 9 : u5.'J dot |'a»n 
':ifi ,jyj»t oii j'Pip'J i'P tu " : u:pp«:i p>: en ppp dJph f>7 ':if> ^Snpy o'f» 7717 t»f> pipn p»7 'jip ,pJpi) 77 j'P 
I'lPt fa |'3pyj d5pp tp ppp fa li ,)w:i if» o'P i'3f>p dp S'p 6'u -73P 12 : yvm ]fi py o'f> pfo »j»j»r fi«7 
pp |5'n op7 jip d»j ':tf ,pii3 ]ip ]nu'j py pfm dph 13 : pfo ]"( |p p"5j dph fa 1: # ofo jip wp fa ppn 
/jjifVa wfi p*p pfo ':tf ,d»5p pftn »'fr o-7nii cf"7 '516 " : pfo pp jt»h ,dpjpp ]>p jVn dot |ip p»j 'iif> p-'ip 
: U"P"3f>)) 'jifi 7p:o p'p 5ip ,tppp dot ]ip )v )J'53"P dp? )ip fir, B"p5»hpp ]"f> ,D"p5'i-)PP ]"i )»pw»j j»3PP tp 'jif» 

The Polish Jews are regarded by their brethren as the most highly gifted of their nation in intellectual 
endowments, and their reputation for superior sagacity is apparently not unfounded; for in no other 
section of the Jewish people, it has been observed, do we find a life of so much social activity combined 
with so decided a bent towards religious and contemplative philosophy. Since the beginning of the 
seventeenth century, they have in a great measure, supplied the synagogues of Germany with teachers 
and rabbins; and, according to the testimony of Chevalier Bunsen, "there is scarcely any branch of 
literature or science taught in the universities (at least of Prussia) where the professors are not either 
converted Jews or the sons of those who were Jews." 

The Polish Jews have long been settled in Poland, and the whole trade of the country is in their 
hands. They form a large proportion of the population; and in Cracow there is one Israelite to every 
eleven inhabitants. Russia, says Da Costa, since the accession of its Polish provinces, numbers not less 
than 1,120,000 Jews among its 63,000,000. These Jews, having' been exposed to much suffering by 
the oppressive measures of the Russian government, have in many cases adopted the same expedient that 
was resorted to, under similar persecutions, by some of their brethren in the Spanish peninsula; and, by 
concealing their religion, have shielded themselves from persecution. The immense power acquired by 
the Jews of the Russian empire is not generally known, because not outwardly manifested; yet we are 
told, by one of their own nation, that " from the smallest retail dealer in Poland, to the general officer 
at Petersburg, there is said to exist a line of Jews in communication with each other, through whose 
hands pass the chief affairs of the home department, as well as the most important foreign negotiations." 

The language spoken by the Polish Jews is principally Old German, with a mixture of Hebraisms, 
or at least phrases peculiar to the Jews: there is very little Polish in it. A translation of the New 
Testament into this language was undertaken, in 1820, by the London Society for Promoting Christi- 
anity among the Jews: the preparation of the work was intrusted by the Society to a converted Jew, 
Benjamin Nehemiah Solomon, who prosecuted this translation under the roof of the Rev. Thomas Scott. 
An edition was published by the Society in 1821, and 300 of the copies were purchased by the British 
and Foreign Bible Society, 200 of which were placed at the disposal of the Prussian Bible Society, for 
sale or gratuitous distribution among the Jews. In 1827, the Rev. A. M'Caul proposed to undertake 
a translation of the Old Testament into Judeo -Polish ; but it does not appear that this important work 
has been yet completed. 



Class III.] 



OLD SAXON. 



189 



OLD SAXON. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 4. 



1 In anaginne uuas uuort, 

inti thas uuort uuas mit Gote, 
inti Got selbo uuas thas uuort. 

2 Thas uuas in anaginne 

mit Gote. Alliu thuruh thas 
uuurdun gitan, inti uzzan siu 
ni uuas uuiht gitanes, 
thas thar gitan uuas. 

3 Thas lib uuas in imo, 

inti thas lib uuas lioht manno. 

4 Inti thas lioht in finstarnessen 
leuhta, inti finstarnessen, 
thas ni bigriffun. 



1 In principio erat verbum, 
et verbum erat apud Deum, 
et Deus ipse erat verbum. 

2 Hoc erat in principio 

apud Deum. Omnia per ipsum 
facta sunt, et sine ipso 
factum est nihil, 
quod factum est. 

3 Vita erat in ipso, 

et vita erat lux hominum. 

4 Lux in tenebris 
lucebat, et tenebrse 

earn non comprehenderunt. 



The Heliand and the Niederdeutsche Psalmen present the best specimens of the pure Old Saxon. 
Although no version, strictly so called, of the Scriptures exists in this ancient dialect, yet it possesses 
a Harmony of the Gospels, translated in the ninth century, which has a special claim on the attention 
of philologists, and which can, therefore, be scarcely passed over without notice. This harmony is the 
earliest document extant which exhibits the stock whence Anglo-Saxon sprang. The language in 
which it is written has been spoken almost from time immemorial in the greater part of Low, Piatt, or 
Northern Germany. The Saxons who emigrated from this part of Germany to Britain, and founded the 
various kingdoms of the Heptarchy, spoke this language ; but from various causes, hereafter to be men- 
tioned, it underwent several modifications in consequence of their residence in this country. Their 
brethren, on the contrary, who remained in their fatherland, preserved the purity of their language; and 
the original vernacular idioms of our Saxon progenitors are still to be heard, with comparatively little 
variation, among the peasantry of Hanover, Holstein, Sleswick, Mecklenburg, Magdeburg, Brandenburg, 
Pomerania, and the kingdom of Prussia; in part of Westphalia and of Jutland, and as far north as 
Livonia and Esthonia. 

I. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Old Saxon, more appropriately designated by Grimm the Alt-nieder-deutsch (i. e. Old Low 
German), was probably cognate with the Gothic, for it is impossible to say which has the stronger 
claims to antiquity: judging from the close similarity of structure which prevails between these two 
dialects, the Friesic, and the Alemannic, or Old High German, we may infer that at some very remote 
period they all branched off from the language originally common to the whole Teutonic family. Old 
Saxon, like all the Low German dialects, is far more soft and flowing than High German. It sub- 
stitutes smooth consonants for the harsh aspirated sounds of High German, and regularly changes sch 
into s, and sz, or z into t. 

The most flourishing period, it has been remarked, of Low German was that immediately pre- 
ceding the Keformation; and many have regretted that the influence of Luther should have caused 



190 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

the harsh High German dialect, spoken by him, to prevail as the language of the educated classes 
throughout Germany, to the exclusion of the Low German dialects, now confined to the poorer classes 
in the regions above mentioned. Dr. Bosworth observes that the Low German equals the High in 
strength and compositive power, while it exceeds it in richness and facility of enunciation; and that 
" the true Old German freedom, sincerity, and honesty, can have no better medium to express its full 
mental and political independence, its genuine and confidential feelings of the heart, than its old, 
unsophisticated, open, Low German dialect." 

II. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

This ancient harmony, written by some unknown author in the ninth century, bears the title of 
Heliand, or the Healer. The reason of this appellation can be best explained in the words of our own 
King Alfred, who says that the history of our Lord is thus designated, because He " sot/dice hys folc 
Hal gedeth fram liyra synnum : " that is, He truly maketh His people to be healed from their sins. The 
Heliand is written in alliterative lines, and adheres pretty closely to the original. It is of some 
importance to the biblical student, from its showing the interpretation affixed by the early Saxons 
to the various passages of Scripture in which the words and actions of the Saviour when on earth are 
recorded. 

Two MS. copies of this poem have been preserved, although in a very mutilated condition. One 
of these copies belongs to the Cottonian Library in the British Museum, and is marked Caligula, A. vii. 
An old tradition has been circulated, to the effect that this very copy formed part of Canute's collection, 
and hence it is still generally known as " Canute's Bible;" but we possess no direct evidence in proof 
that it was ever in the hands of that monarch. The other codex was found in 1794 by Gerard Gley, 
a Frenchman, in the library of the cathedral church at Bamberg: it has since been removed to 
Munich. Some extracts from the Heliand were published (erroneously under the name of Franco- 
Theotisc), in the second volume of Hicks's Thesaurus, and also by Nyerup at Copenhagen in 1787. 
A complete and splendid edition was published at Munich in 1830, by Schmeller. The Munich MS. 
was taken as the base of this edition, and the various readings occurring in the London MS. are given 
in the notes. 

It may here be mentioned that, in the year 890, a Harmony of the Gospels, erroneously attributed 
to Tatian, was translated by an unknown writer into a sort of Old Saxon. The dialect of this translation 
is softer than the Alemannic and Bavarian; it contains words peculiar to Old Saxon, and may be 
considered as a kind of transition between Low and High German. MSS. are preserved at Oxford 
and St. Gallen. In an edition published by Palthenius, in 1706, the dialect is styled "the ancient 
Theotisc." This work was republished by Schilter in the second volume of his Thesaurus. 



Class 111.] ANGLO-SAXON. 191 

ANGLO-SAXON. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 
[London, 1842.] 
On fruman wses Word, and bset Word wees mid Gode, and God waes J?set Word. 2 £set 
wses on fruman mid Gode. 3 Ealle bing wseron geworhte burh hyne ; and nan bing nses 
geworht butan him. 4 Dset wses lif be on him geworht wses, and bset lif wses manna 
leoht. 5 And bset leoht lyht on bystrum ; and bystro bset ne genamon. 6 Man wses 
fram Gode asend, bses nama wses Iohannes. 7 pes com to gewitnesse bset he gewitnesse 
cySde be bam Leohte, bset ealle men burh hyne gelyfdon. 8 Nses he Leoht, ac bset he 
gewitnesse forS-bsere be bam Leohte. 9 SoS Leoht wses, bset onlyht selcne cumendne man 
on bysne middan-eard. 10 He wses on middan-earde, and middan-eard wses geworht burh 
hine, and middan-eard hine ne gecneow. n To hys agenum he com, and hig hyne ne 
underfengon. 12 SoSlice swa hwylce swa hyne underfengon, he sealde hym anweald bset 
hig wseron Godes beam, bam be gelyfaS on his naman: 13 ba ne synd acennede of blodum 
ne of flsesces willan, ne of weres willan ; ac hig synd of Gode acennede. 14 And bset 
Word wses flsesc geworden, and eardode on us, (and we gesawon hys wuldor, swylce an- 
cennedes wuldor of Fseder,) bset wses ful mid gyfe and so'Sfsestnysse. 

I. GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND ORIGIN. 

Anglo-Saxon was the language introduced into England with the Saxon domination by three distinct 
tribes of the Saxon Confederacy; namely, the Old Saxons properly so called (of whom mention is made 
in the foregoing memoir), the Angles from Anglen in the south-east of Sleswick in Denmark, and the 
Jutes from Jutland. The whole of England was divided between these three tribes : the Old Saxons 
established themselves in the west and south, forming the kingdoms of Essex, Sussex, and Wessex; 
the Angles obtained large dominions in the north and east of England, and the south of Scotland; 
and the Jutes possessed a small territory in Kent and the Isle of Wight. Of these tribes the Angles 
appear to have been most numerous; in fact, they flocked to our island in such numbers as to leave 
their native country almost destitute of inhabitants. But from the time of Egbert, a.d. 827, the power 
of the West Saxons became predominant, and although the Angles gave their name to their adopted 
country (Angle or Engle-land), yet their descendants are to the present day termed, not Angles, but 
Saxons, by the Irish and the other Celtic nations. One and the same form of paganism prevailed 
among Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, from the period of their first arrival in England, A.D. 449, till the 
end of the sixth century, when Christianity was introduced among them by Augustine and the forty 
monks sent by Pope Gregory from Eome. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The three Saxon tribes who thus established their eight separate kingdoms in Britain, all spoke 
dialects of one language. The dialect of the Angles was broader and more harsh than that of the 
West Saxons, and was distinguished by the name of the Dano-Saxon, whereas the dialect of the West 
Saxons was called pure Anglo-Saxon. These two dialects remained distinct as long as Anglo-Saxon was 
the language of England, yet the difference between them probably was not greater than that which 



192 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

now exists between the dialects of English spoken in different counties. Alfred the Great, a West 
Saxon king, gave predominance not only to the power but to the dialect of his countrymen; he 
patronised learning and learned men, devoted himself to literature, and produced several translations 
from Latin into his vernacular tongue. Under his auspices, therefore, the language of the West Saxons 
became the cultivated dialect of Anglo-Saxon, though afterwards modified more or less by the influence 
of the other dialects. The supremacy of the Danes during twenty-six years in England, under Canute 
and his two sons, had some slight effect in altering the language of the Anglo-Saxons. The Norman- 
French, introduced in 1066, had a still farther influence on Anglo-Saxon, which afterwards, by gradual 
and successive alterations, insensibly merged into the English. The Anglo-Saxon ceased to be spoken 
during the reign of Henry III., about A.D. 1258; it then took its place among the dead languages. 
In a great degree, however, it still lives in the English language, of which it forms the very ground- 
work; and it is not possible without some acquaintance with this ancient language, to understand 
thoroughly the structure of our own. Several of the provincial dialects, especially that of Dorset, 
preserve features of nearer resemblance to the Anglo-Saxon than the present polished English does. 

Anglo-Saxon itself however is, as we have just shown, but a scion of the Old Saxon language 
described in a preceding notice: among other evidences that it is not an original language may be 
cited the singular fact, that no less than five different fragments of verbs, of which the principal 
terminations appear in other languages, are huddled together in the conjugation of the substantive 
verb. As compared with its cognate languages, Anglo-Saxon bears the nearest resemblance to the 
ancient Friesic, and it is more than probable that many of the Friesians accompanied their Saxon 
neighbours in the invasion and colonisation of England. In its grammatical forms, Anglo-Saxon 
presents comparatively few deviations from the early branches of the Germanic family. It has two 
numbers, singular and plural, and three genders. The gender of nouns is chiefly determined by their 
terminations, and the adjectives have variable terminations to correspond with their nouns in gender, 
number, and case. There are four cases, and three declensions. Adjectives have a definite and an 
indefinite form of declension ; the latter (of which the inflections are the same as those of nouns of the 
second declension) is used when the adjective has a definite article, a demonstrative, or a possessive 
pronoun before it. In nouns the final syllable ing is sometimes patronymic, like iSrjs in Greek: 
in the Anglo-Saxon version of the Bible, the servant of Elisha is called Elising: from this source arise 
our words duckling, gosling, nestling, etc. But perhaps, one of the most remarkable characteristics of 
Anglo-Saxon is the multiplicity of its synonymous words. It has ten synonymes for the word 'man,' 
and as many for 'woman:' it has eighteen different words to denote 'persons in authority,' besides ten 
compounds, and several official titles. It has also eighteen words expressive of 'the mind,' and fourteen 
to denote 'the sea;' and to express the name of the Supreme Being, it has more terms and periphrases 
than many other languages. The Anglo-Saxons possessed a strong partiality for metaphor and 
periphrasis: thus to describe the Ark, the poet Csedmon used no less than thirty compound phrases, 
such as, " the sea house," " the ocean palace," " the wooden fortress," " the building of the waves," etc. 
This poetical combination of words was so continually resorted to, especially in poems, that many of 
the words thus combined became current in the language as compound terms. The Anglo-Saxon 
language displayed extreme aptitude in the formation of compounds, but, like most ancient languages, 
it drew its materials from its own resources, and formed its compound words by the combination of its 
own roots, without drawing, like modern English, from foreign vocabularies. " Great, verily," 
observes Camden, " was the glory of our tongue before the Norman conquest in this, that the Old 
Eno-lish (or Anglo-Saxon) could express most aptly all the conceits of the mind without borrowing 
from any." 

III. — ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. 
" The Teutonic and the Celtic nations possessed an alphabetical system, of which the origin and the 
history are lost in remote antiquity. This system was styled the Runic, from the Teutonic word Run, 



Class III.] ANGLO-SAXON. 193 

denoting a mystery, because the Runic characters were used in pagan rites. " The heathen Teutons," 
says Sir Francis Palgrave, " believed that the Runs possessed magical influence, could stop the vessel 
in her course, divert the arrow in its flight, cause love or hatred, raise the corpse from the grave, or 
cast the living into death-like slumbers." The Runes, however, of the Teutons and of the Celtic varied 
in form; and even the Runes of the Anglo-Saxons and the Scandinavians differed from each other as 
much as the languages themselves. On account of the idolatrous veneration with which paganism 
invested these Runes, the early preachers and missionaries of Christianity endeavoured to set them aside, 
and to introduce the use of the Latin characters in their stead. It was doubtless from this cause, that 
Ulphilas refrained from writing his version in the Runic letters employed by the Germanic tribes, and 
adopted a modification of the Greek and Latin alphabets. The Anglo-Saxons, who had brought their 
Runes with them from Germany, as is evident from several ancient inscriptions, continued to use them 
till the time of Augustine, when they were induced to substitute the Latin characters. The Anglo- 
Saxon alphabet, however, has preserved a relict of the more recent Runes in its two peculiar characters 
J), b, stungen thuss, and D, $, stungen duss, the former of which had the hard sound of th as in thing, 
and the latter the soft sound of the same letters as in £/une. The other Anglo-Saxon letters, though 
very dissimilar from the Roman letters of the present day, are precisely the same as those used at Rome 
during the age in which Augustine flourished. Five letters of our English alphabet, j, k, q, v, and z, 
are not found in genuine Anglo-Saxon, but c and cw are invariably placed where k and q would be 
used by us. 

IV. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

It is very doubtful whether the entire Scriptures have ever been translated into Anglo-Saxon. We 
have no traditionary account of a complete version, and all the biblical MSS. in Anglo-Saxon now in 
existence contain but select portions of the sacred volume. The poems on sacred subjects usually 
attributed to Casdmon, afford the first feeble indications of an attempt being made by our Saxon fore- 
fathers to convey the truths of Scripture in their vernacular tongue. Caadmon lived in the seventh 
century; he was a monk in the monastery of Streoneshalch in Northumbria. It is said that he could 
neither read nor write, but that some of the other monks used to teach him portions of sacred history, 
and that he afterwards sang his lesson to his instructors in poetical strains. His poems have been strung 
together so as to form a sort of metrical paraphrase on some of the historical books of Scripture. He 
commences with the fall of the angels, the creation and fall of man, and proceeds to the history of the 
deluge, carrying on his narrative to the history of the children of Israel, and their wanderings in the 
desert. He also touches on the history of Nebuchadnezzar and of Daniel. The authenticity of this work 
has been doubted, some writers being of opinion that it was written by different writers at different periods ; 
the striking similarity between some of the poems and certain passages in Milton's Paradise Lost has 
been repeatedly noticed. Two editions have been printed; the first by Francis Junius at Amsterdam 
in 1655, and the second, with an English translation an4 notes, by Mr. Thorpe, in London, in 1832. 

The literal versions of such portions of the Scripture as have been translated into Anglo-Saxon 
have chiefly been transmitted to us in the form of interlineations of Latin MSS. A Latin Psalter, 
said to have been sent by Pope Gregory to Augustine, is still preserved among the Cottonian MSS., 
and contains an Anglo-Saxon interlinear version, of which the date is unknown. Aldhelm, bishop of 
Sherborne, and Guthlac, the first Anglo-Saxon anchorite, translated the Psalms soon after the com- 
mencement of the eighth century, but their MSS. are lost, and nothing is known with certainty 
respecting them. The same may be said concerning the portions of Scripture reported to have been 
translated by the Venerable Bede. At the time of his death, this renowned historian was engaged in a 
translation of the Gospel of St. John, and almost with his latest breath he dictated to his amanuensis 
the closing verse of the Gospel. Alfred the Great also took part in the translation of the Scriptures. 
He translated the commandments, in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, and part of the three following 
chapters, which he affixed to his code of laws. He likewise kept a " hand-boc," in which he daily 

14 



194 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

entered extracts from various authors, but more especially verses of Scripture translated by himself 
from Latin into Anglo-Saxon. 

There are three different versions of the Four Gospels at present known to be in existence. The 
most ancient of these is the famous Northumbrian Gloss, or Durham Book, preserved among the 
Cottonian MSS. in the British Museum. This MS. is one of the finest specimens extant of Saxon 
writing. The Vulgate Latin text of the Four Gospels was written by Eadfrid, bishop of Lindisfarne, 
about A.D. 680 : his successor in the see adorned the book with curious illuminations, and with bosses 
of gold and precious stones; and a priest named Aldred added an interlinear gloss or version, probably 
about the year 900. The second Anglo-Saxon version of the Gospels belongs to the tenth century, 
and was written by Farmen and Owen at Hare wood, or Harwood, over Jerome's Latin of the Four 
Gospels. The Latin text was written about the same period as that of the Durham Book, having been 
made during the seventh century. This valuable MS. is in the Bodleian Library, and is called the 
Rushworth Gloss, from the name of one of its former proprietors. The other translation of the Gospels 
was made by an unknown hand, apparently not long before the Norman conquest, and is thought to 
have been translated from the Latin version which was in use before Jerome's time. 

These important MSS., with the version of iElfric hereafter to be mentioned, were for two or 
three centuries thrown aside as useless lumber. With the disuse of the Anglo-Saxon language they 
ceased to be understood, and were consigned to the shelves of monasteries. At the time of the Refor- 
mation, some Anglo-Saxon MSS. on doctrinal subjects were drawn from their places of concealment, 
and placed before the world in testimony that the early Saxon Church withstood the growing heresies 
of the Church of Borne. The Reformers, aware that the translation of part of the Scriptures into 
Anglo-Saxon was a precedent in favour of their own translation into the vernacular tongue, collected' 
the fragments of the Anglo-Saxon version, and in 1571 issued an edition of the Four Gospels with an 
English parallel version. The text of this edition was a late MS. belonging to the Bodleian Library at 
Oxford: it was edited by Archbishop Parker, and a preface was written by John Fox, the martyrologist. 
This edition was carefully collated with four MSS. by Francis Junius, jun., and published by Dr. 
Marshall at Dort, in 1665, in parallel columns with the Moeso-Gothic version. Some copies of this 
edition were provided with new title-pages, bearing the date, Amsterdam, 1684. The most complete 
edition of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels is that of Mr. Thorpe, printed in London, 1.842, in Roman type. 
Two Cambridge MSS. form the basis of this text, which in all doubtful passages is carefully collated 
with other MSS. 

Two editions of the Anglo-Saxon Psalter have been published. The first appeared in 1640: it 
was printed in London under the care of Spelman, from an ancient MS. by an unknown translator, and 
collated with other MSS. of equal antiquity. This version was undoubtedly made from the Latin 
Vulgate, which interlines with the Anglo-Saxon. A splendid edition of the Psalms was published in 
1835 at Oxford: the MS. which forms the text formerly belonged to the Due de Berri, the brother of 
Charles V., king of France, and was preserved in the Royal Library at Paris. Mr. Thorpe, the editor, 
attributed this MS. to the eleventh century; and by some it is supposed to be a transcript of the version 
executed by Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne, in the early part of the eighth century. It is, however, rather 
a paraphrase than a version, and is written, partly in prose, and partly in metre. 

A partial interlinear translation of a Latin version of Proverbs, made in the tenth century, is pre- 
served among the Cottonian MSS. in the British Museum. To the same century belong the celebrated 
translations of iElfric, archbishop of Canterbury: they consist of the Heptateuch, or first seven books 
of the Bible, and the book of Job. An edition of this version was published by Mr. Thwaits, at 
Oxford, in 1699, from an unique MS. belonging to the Bodleian Library: the book of Job was printed 
from a transcript of a MS. in the Cottonian Library. iElfric in some portions of his version adheres 
literally to the text; but in some parts he appears to aim at producing a condensation, or abridgment, 
rather than a translation of the events related by the inspired historian. Like the other Anglo-Saxon 
fragments, his translation was made from the Latin version. 



Class III.] ANGLO-SAXON. 195 

A few MSS. of the Psalms, written shortly before, or about the time of, the Norman Conquest, 
are extant, and show the gradual decline of the Anglo-Saxon language. The history of the language 
may still farther be traced in three MSS. yet in existence, which were made after the arrival of the 
Normans. They are MSS. of the same translation, and two of them are attributed to the reign of 
Henry the Second: but the language in which they are written is no longer pure Anglo-Saxon; it has 
merged into what is designated the Anglo-Norman. 

V. FACTS KELATIVB TO THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VEESION. 

The Anglo-Saxon version was never disseminated among the people, for the art of reading was, 
during the Anglo-Saxon period, exclusively confined to priests and kings. Learning was then cul- 
tivated chiefly in monasteries, and the Latin version of the Scriptures was there generally studied. Some 
members of the clerical body were, however, but imperfectly acquainted with the Latin tongue, and it 
was for their benefit that the interlinear glosses were added to the Latin MSS., in order that they 
might themselves understand the portions which it was their duty to read to the people. 

NORTHUMBRIAN DIALECT, ho title oe date. 
SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 8. 

Ges.eh wutotlice ftreatas gestag in mor & mi's Sy gesastt geneolecedon to him 'Seignas 
his. 2 & untynde muS his gelserde hea cuoed. 3 eadge biSon Sa Saerfendo of 1 from gaste 
forSon hiora is ric heofna. 4 eadge bi'Son $a milde for'Son 'Sa agnegaS eor'So. 6 eadge 
bi'Son 8a Se gemaenas nu forfton 'Sa gefroefred biSon. 6 eadge br$on $a $e hynegra'S & 
■Syrstas soSfasstnisse forSon Sa .ilio gefylled bi'Son 1 geriorded. 7 eadge brSon miltheorte 
for'Son hiora i $a miltheortnise him gefylges. 8 eadge bi'Son claene of i from hearte 
forSon 'Sa god geseas. 

The above is extracted from " The Anglo-Saxon Gospels," undertaken about 1833 by Messrs 
J. M. Kemble and B. Thorpe at the expense of the University of Cambridge, and printed at the 
Pitt Press. The progress of the work was suspended by the sudden departure of one of the editors to 
Germany, and it was not resumed on his return. 



196 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



[Class III. 



ENGLISH. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 12. 



Wicuf, 1380. 



I IN the bigynnynge was 
the word and the word was 
at god, and god was the word, 
2 this was in the bigynnynge 
at god, 3 alle thingis weren 
made bi hym : and withouten 
hym was made no thing, 
that thing that was made 4 in 
him was liif, and the liif was 
the lijt of men, 5 and the li3t 
schyneth in derknessis i and 
derknessis comprehendiden 
not it. 

6 A man was sente fro god 
to whom the name was Ion, 
' this man cam in to witnes- 
synge, that he schulde bere 
witnessynge of the li3t, that 
alle men schulden bileue bi 
hym, 8 he was not the li3t, 
but that he schulde bere 
witnessynge of the li3t, 9 ther 
was a verri li3t : whiche li3t- 
neth eche man that cometh in 
to this world, 10 he was in 
the world, and the world was 
made bi him i and the world 
knewe hym not. 

II he cam in to his owne 
thingis : (I hise resceyueden 
hym not: 12 but hou many 
euer resceiueden hym : he 
3af to hem power to be made 
the sones of god, to hem that 
bileueden in his name. 



Tyndale, 1534. j Covehdale, 1535. 



I IN the beginnynge was 
the worde, and the worde 
was with God : and the worde 
was God. 2 The same was 
in the beginnynge with God. 

3 All thinges were made by 
it, and with out it, was made 
nothinge, that was made. 

4 In it was lyfe, and the lyfe 
was the lyght of men, s and 
the lyght shyneth in the 
darcknes, but the darcknes 
comprehended it not. 

6 There was a man sent 
from God, whose name was 
Iohn. ' The same cam as a 
witnes to beare witnes of the 
lyght, that all men through 
him myght beleve. 8 He was 
not that lyght : but to beare 
witnes of the lyght. 9 That 
was a true lyght, which 
lyghteth all men that come 
into the worlde. 10 He was 
in the worlde, and the worlde 
was made by him : and yet 
the worlde knewe him not. 

II He cam amonge his 
(awne) and his awne re- 
ceaved him not. ,2 But as 
meny as receaved him, to 
them he gave power to be 
the sonnes of God in that 
they beleved on his name. 



IN the begynnynge was 
the worde, and the worde 
was with God, and God was 
y° worde. The same was in 
the begynnynge with God. 
All thinges were made by 
the same, and without the 
same was made nothinge that 
was made. In him was the 
life, and the life was the 
light of men ; and the light 
shyneth in the darknesse, 
and the darkness compre- 
hended it not. 

There was sent from God a 
man, whose name was Ihon. 
The same came for a wit- 
nesse, to beare wytnesse of 
y e light, that thorow him 
they all might beleue. He 
was not that light, but that 
he might beare witnesse of 
y° light. That was the true 
light, which lighteth all men, 
that come in to this worlde. 
He was in the worlde, I the 
worlde was made by him, 
and y° worlde knewe him 
not. 

He came in to his awne, 
and his awne receaued him 
not. But as many as re- 
ceaued him, to them gaue he 
power to be the children of 
God : euen soch as beleue in 
his name. 



Matthew, 1537. 

IN the beginninge was 
the worde, and the worde was 
with God : and the worde was 
God. The same was in the 
beginnynge wyth God. All 
thinges were made by it, and 
wythout it, was made no- 
thynge that was made. In it 
was lyfe, and the lyfe was 
the lyght of men, and the 
lyght shyneth in y" darck- 
nes but the darcknes com- 
prehended it not. 

There was a man sent from 
God, whose name was John. 
The same cam as a witnes 
to beare wytnes of the lyght, 
that all men through him 
myght beleue. He was not 
that lyght : but to beare witnes 
of the lyght. That was a true 
lyght whych lyghteth all me 
that come into the worlde. Ho 
was in the worlde, and the 
worlde was made by hym : 
and yet the worlde knewe hym 
not. 

He cam amonge hys awne, 
and hys awne receaued hym 
not. But as many as re- 
ceaued hym, to them he gaue 
power to be the sonnes of 
God in that they beleued on 
hys name : 



-GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 



The population of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, according to the census of 1851, 
is 27,500,000 souls, and that of England alone, 16,920,000. But the extension of the English lan- 
guage must by no means be estimated by that of England, or even of the united kingdom. It may 
be said to be co-extensive with the habitable world, for of all people, except the Jews, the English 
are the most widely scattered, and their language may thus be heard in every country, and amongst 
every nation, under heaven. The United States of America are inhabited almost exclusively by an 
English-speaking population. English is also the predominant language in the Canadas and the West 
Indies. In the East its ascendancy is being gradually increased and established: amongst the millions 
of India, for instance, it is becoming more and more cultivated; but in spite of the progress of edu- 
cation it will never altogether predominate over all the various native dialects spoken in the numerous 
colonies and settlements established by the enterprise, and maintained by the energy, of the Anglo- 
Saxon race. The recent rapid increase in the population of the Australian colonies adds largely to the 
means previously operating in the distribution of the English tongue, which promises to become ere 
long widely diffused over the coasts and islands of the Southern Pacific. 



Class III.] 



ENGLISH. 



197 



II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The English language is the daughter of the Saxon, and preserves to a great extent the features 
of its parent. So far, however, as respects its vocabulary, English is essentially a compound language, 
and borrows freely from all sides and from all sources. In the first period of its history it was greatly 
influenced by the Norman-French, introduced by William the Conqueror. During the first century 
after the Conquest, the two languages subsisted side by side; but a fusion gradually took place, in 
•which the language of the people triumphed over that of their invaders, for although Norman words 
were freely admitted into the vocabulary, the genius and structural character of the new language 
evolved by this intermixture were Saxon. 

The exact period of the transmutation of Saxon into English has been disputed, but it seems 
most reasonable to believe that the process was gradual. A fragment of the Saxon Chronicle, 
published by Lye, and concluding with the year 1079, exhibits the language in the first stage of 
its transition state, no great deviation having then been made from Anglo-Saxon. But in the con- 
tinuation of the same chronicle, from 1135 to 1140 A.D., the commencement of those changes may be 
distinctly traced, which subsequently formed the distinctive peculiarities of the English language. 
The principal change introduced about this period was the gradual substitution of particles and 
auxiliary words for the terminal inflections of the Anglo-Saxon. The English has happily retained 
the facility of its parent language in compounding words, the only difference in this respect being, 
that, in the formation of its compound terms, the Anglo-Saxon drew only from its own resources, 
whereas unfortunately the English has had recourse to the Latin, the Greek, the French, the Italian, 
and even the Arabic languages. It has been remarked by a distinguished foreigner, that "everywhere 



Ckanmeb, 1539. 

I IN the begynnynge was 
the worde, and the worde 
was wyth God : and God 
was the worde. 2 The same 
was in the begynnyng with 
God. 3 All thynges were 
made by it, and without it, 
was made nothynge that was 
made. 4 In it was lyfe, and 
the lyfe was the lyght of 
men, 5 and the lyght shyn- 
eth in darcknes, and the 
darcknes comprehended it 
not. 

6 There was sent from God 
a man, whose name was Iohn. 
7 The same cam as a wytnes 
to beare wytnes of the lyght, 
that all men through hym 
myght beleue. 8 He was 
not that lyght : but was sent 
to beare wytnes of the lyght. 
9 That lyght was the true 
lyght, whych lyghteth euery 
man that cometh into the 
worlde. 10 He was in the 
worlde, and the worlde was 
made by hym : and the 
worlde knewe hym not. 

II He cam amonge hys 
awne, and hys awne re- 
ceaued him not. 12 But as 
many as receaued hym to 
them gaue he power to be 
the sonnes of God : euen them 
that beleued on hys name. 



Taverneb, 1549. 

IN the begynnynge was 
the worde, and the word was 
with God, and the worde was 
God. The same was in the 
begynnynge wyth God. All 
thynges were made by it and 
without it was made nothynge 
that was made. In it was 
lyfe, and the lyfe was the 
lyght of men, and the lyght 
shyneth in the darknes, but 
the darknes comprehended it 
not. 

Ther was a man sent from 
God, whose name was John. 
The same came as a wytnes 
to beare wytnes of the light, 
that all men through him 
myght beleue. He was not 
that lyght but to beare witnes 
of the lyght. That was a 
true lyght, which lyghteth 
all men that come into the 
worlde. He was in the 
worlde, and the worlde was 
made by him, and yet the 
world knewe him not. 

g^* He came amonge his 
(owne) and his owne receiued 
him not. But as manye as 
receyued him to them he gave 
power to be the sonnes of 
God in that they beleued on 
his name. 



Geneva, 1557. 

1 IN the beginnyng was 
the word, and the worde was 
with God, and that worde 
was God. 2 The same was 
in the begynnyng with God. 
3 Althinges were made by it, 
and without it was made 
nothing that was made. 4 In 
it was lyfe, and the lyfe was 
the light of men. 5 And the 
light shineth in darkenes, and 
the darknes comprehended it 
not. 6 There was a man sent 
from God, whose name was 
Iohn. 7 The same came for 
a wytnes, to beare wytnes of 
the light, that all men through 
hym might beleue. 8 He was 
not that light, but was sent to 
beare wytnes of the light. 

9 That was that true lyght, 
which lyghteth all men that 
come into the worlde. 10 He 
was in the worlde, and the 
worlde was made by hym : 
and the worlde knewe him 
not. n He came among his 
owne, and his owne receaued 
him not. 

12 But as many as receaued 
hym, to them he gaue power 
to be the sonnes of God, euen 
to them that beleue in his 



Bishops, 1568. 

I IN the begynnyng was 
the worde, and the worde was 
with God : and that worde 
was God. 2 The same was 
in the begynnyng with God. 
3 All thynges were made by 
it : and without it, was made 
nothyng that was made. 4 In 
it was lyfe, and the lyfe was 
the lyght of men. 5 And the 
lyght shyneth in darkenesse : 
and the darkenesse compre- 
hended it not. 

6 There was a man sent 
from God whose name was 
John : 1 The same came for a 
witnesse, to beare witnesse 
of the lyght, that all men 
through hym myght beleue. 
8 He was not that lyght : 
but was sent to beare wit- 
nesse of the lyght. 9 That 
[lyght] was the true lyght, 
which lyghteth every man 
that commeth into the worlde. 
10 He was in the worlde, and 
the worlde was made by hym, 
and the worlde knewe hym 
not. 

II He came among his 
owne, and his owne receaued 
hym not. 12 But as many 
as receaued hym, to them 
gave he power to be the sonnes 
of God, euen them that be- 
leued on his name. 



198 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



[Class III. 



the principle of utility and application dominates in England, and constitutes at once the physiognomy 
and the force of its civilisation." This principle is certainly legible in its language, which although 
possessed of remarkable facility in the adaptation of foreign terms and even idioms to its own use, 
is at the same time free from the trammels with which the other languages of its class are encumbered. 
In the gender of nouns, for instance, we meet with no perplexity or anomaly, every noun being 
masculine, feminine, or neuter, according to the nature of the object or idea it represents; and as the 
adjectives are all indeclinable, their concordance with the noun is at once effected without the 
apparently useless trouble of altering the final letters. This perfect freedom from useless encumbrance 
adds greatly to the ease and vigour of expression; undoubtedly, however, the best English is that 
which is most free from foreign admixture. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

During the period of the gradual disappearance of the Anglo-Saxon and evolution of the English 
language, as above described, England was under papal domination, and the Scriptures were no longer 
sought after. The Anglo-Saxon versions became useless from the alteration in the language, and 
until the fourteenth century the efforts made to produce a new translation were • few and feeble. 
An ecclesiastic named Orm, or Ormin, supposed from his dialect to have been a native of the north 
of England, composed a metrical paraphrase of the Gospels and Acts, in lines of fifteen syllables, 
during the latter part of the twelfth century. This work is entitled the Ormulum, from the name 
of its author, and is preserved in the Bodleian Library. A more extensive metrical paraphrase, com- 
prising the whole of the Old and New Testaments, is to be found amongst other poetry of a religious 
nature in a work entitled Sowle-hele (Soul's health), belonging to the Bodleian Library: it is usually 



Rheims, 1582. 

I IN the beginning was 
the Word, and the Word 
was with God, and God was 
the Word. 2 This was in 
the beginning with God. 
3 Al things were made by 
him : and without him was 
made nothing. That which 
was made, * in him was 
life, and the life was the 
light of men : 5 and the light 
shineth in darkenesse, and 
the darkenesse did not com- 
prehend it. c There was a 
man sent from God, whose 
name was lohn. 1 This man 
came for testimonie : to giue 
testimonie of the light, that 
al might beleeue through him. 

8 He was not the light, 
but to giue testimonie of the 
light. 9 It was the true light, 
which lighteneth euery man 
that commeth into this world. 
10 He was in the world, and 
the world was made by him, 
and the world knew him 
not. 

II He came into his owne, 
and his owne received him 
not. 12 But as many as re- 
ceiued him, he gaue them 
power to be made the sonnes 
of God, to those that beleeue 
in his name. 



Douat, 1847. 

I IN the beginning was 
the word, and the word was 
with God, and the word was 
God. 2 The same was in the 
beginning with God. 3 All 
things were made by him : 
and without him was made 
nothing that was made : 4 In 
him was life, and the life was 
the light of men : 5 And the 
light shineth in darkness, and 
the darkness did not compre- 
hend it. 

6 There was a man sent 
from God, whose name was 
John. 1 This man came for 
a witness ; to give testimony 
of the light, that all men 
might believe through him. 
8 He was not the light, but 
was to give testimony of the 
light. 9 That was the true 
light, which enlighteneth 
every man that cometh into 
this world. 10 He was in 
the world, and the world was 
made by him, and the world 
knew him not. 

II He came into his own, 
and his own received him 
not. 12 But as many as re- 
ceived him, he gave them 
power to be made the sons of 
God, to them that believe in 
his name. 



Authorised, 1611. 

1 IN the beginning was 
the Word, and the Word 
was with God, and the Word 
was God. 2 The same was 
in the beginning with God. 
3 All things were made by 
him, and without him was 
not anything made that was 
made. 4 In him was life, 
and the life was the light of 
men. s And the light shin- 
eth in darknes, and the dark- 
nes comprehended it not. 

6 There was a man sent 
from God, whose name was 
lohn. 7 The same came for 
a witnesse, to beare witnesse 
of the light, that all men 
through him might beleeue. 
8 Hee was not that light, but 
was sent to beare witnesse of 
that light. 9 That was the 
true light, which lighteth 
euery man that commeth into 
the world. I0 Hee was in 
the world, and the world 
was made by him, and the 
world knew him not. "Hee 
came vnto his owne, and his 
owne receiued him not. 12 But 
as many as receiued him, to 
them gaue hee power to be- 
come the sonnes of God, euen 
to them that beleeue on his 
Name. 



Blatney, 1769. 

I IN the beginning was 
the Word, and the Word was 
with God, and the Word was 
God. 2 The same was in the 
beginning with God. 3 All 
things were made by him ; 
and without him was not any 
thing made that was made. 

4 In him was life ; and the 
life was the light of men. 

5 And the light shineth in 
darkness ; and the darkness 
comprehended it not. 

6 There was a man sent 
from God, whose name was 
John. 1 The same came for 
a witness, to bear witness 
of the Light, that all men 
through him might believe. 
8 He was not that Light, but 
was sent to bear witness of 
that Light. 9 That was the 
true Light, which lighteth 
every man that cometh into 
the world. 10 He was in the 
world, and the world was 
made by him, and the world 
knew him not. 

II He came unto his own, 
and his own received him 
not. I2 But as many as re- 
ceived him, to them gave he 
power to become the sons of 
God, even to them that be- 
lieve on his name. 



Class III.] ENGLISH. 199 

ascribed to the end of the twelfth century. Another metrical version, probably of the same date, is 
preserved in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge: it comprises only the first two books of the Old 
Testament, and is written in the dialect then spoken in the north of England. In the same College, 
a metrical version of the Psalms, apparently written about the year 1300, has been deposited: this 
version adheres to the Latin Psalter, corrected by Jerome, as closely as the nature of the composition 
will admit. Several other MSS. of the old English Psalter, preserved in the British Museum and the 
Bodleian Library, are supposed to be exemplars of the same version, with the orthography altered in 
conformity with the state of the language at the periods in which they were written. A translation of 
the Psalms from the same text (the corrected Latin of Jerome), was executed by Eichard Rolle, 
of Hampole, near Doncaster, during the early part of the fourteenth century. This version is remark- 
able as being the first portion of the Scriptures ever translated into English prose. Rolle, or Hampole 
as he is more generally called, also wrote a paraphrase in verse of a part of Job. Two other versions 
of the Psalms, belonging to the same period, are likewise extant. In Bene't College, Cambridge, there 
is a version of Mark, Luke, and the Pauline Epistles, but the translator and the date are unknown; 
and in the British Museum there is a translation of the Gospels appointed to be read on Sundays, 
written in the northern dialect. 

Such were the principal translations of scriptural portions executed before the time of Wickliffe. 
A version has been commonly ascribed to John de Trevisa, vicar of Berkeley in Gloucestershire, who 
flourished toward the close of the fourteenth century; but he only translated a few detached passages, 
which he introduced in certain parts of his writings. Some texts translated by him were painted on 
the walls of the chapel belonging to Berkeley Castle. 

To Wickliffe, therefore, " the Morning Star of the Reformation," belongs the honour of having 
produced the first version of the entire Scriptures in the English language. His translation was made 
immediately from the Latin Vulgate, and was completed about the year 1380. So great was the 
opposition it excited, that in 1390 a bill was brought into the House of Lords for its total suppression. 
The motion, however, was thrown aside through the influence of the Duke of Lancaster, who is 
reported to have said, " We will not be the dregs of all, seeing other nations have the law of God, 
which is the law of our faith, written in their own language." It was perhaps, about this period, that 
the followers of Wickliffe revised and corrected his version : several copies of this revision are extant. 
In 1408 the farther translation, and even the perusal, of the Scriptures was formally prohibited in a 
Convocation held at Oxford, by Archbishop Arundel. Great persecution followed this edict, and many 
suffered unto death for having read the English Bible. 

Although Wickliffe's version of the English Bible was the earliest in point of execution, yet, as 
the art of printing was unknown during the age in which it was produced, it was among the latest of 
the English versions in being committed to the press. The first printed edition was published in 
1731, by Mr. Lewis. This edition, which was preceded by a history of the English biblical transla- 
tions, by the editor, included only the New Testament. The same version of the New Testament was 
re-edited in 1810 by the Rev. H. H. Baber, with very valuable prolegomena. It was again published 
with extreme accuracy in 1841, as a portion of the English Hexapla, the best MSS. having been most 
carefully collated for this purpose by George Offor, Esq.; a MS. then in the possession of the Duke of 
Sussex was used as the basis of this edition. Another edition was published by Pickering in 1848 : it 
is printed from a contemporary MS. written about A.D. 1380, formerly in the monastery of Sion, and 
now preserved in the collection of Lea Wilson, F. S. A. The Old Testament of Wickliffe's version 
remained in MS. till within the last few years; but a complete edition of both Testaments was published 
at Oxford, in 1850, under the editorship of the Rev. J. Forshall and Sir F. Madden. 

We now come to the history of our authorised version of the Scriptures, which may be said to 
date from the year 1524, when the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, the first portions of Tyndale's 
translation, were printed at Hamburgh. Tyndale's version, which has served as the basis of all 
succeeding versions of the English Scriptures, was executed directly from the sacred originals. It was 



200 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

produced in the midst of persecution, and furnishes a wonderful example of the result of steadfast faith 
and firm determination of purpose. Though opposed by the combined power of the King of England, 
his whole council, and the emperor Charles V., William Tyndale contrived to elude their vigilance 
until the great work, upon which his heart was set, was accomplished. " Having from the first con- 
sulted only with God and his own conscience, he possessed an indescribable severity of conviction that 
he had but one thing to do, and though perpetually exposed to seizure and death, not a day was to be 
lost by him, nor was lost." And although he finally sealed his testimony with his blood, (for he was 
martyred at Vilvorde, near Brussels, in 1536,) yet he died in the midst of victory; for before he 
expired no less than fourteen editions of his version of the New Testament had been published, the 
last of which, being the first edition of the English Scriptures ever printed in his native country, was 
passing through the press in London " before or at the very time that he was receiving at Vilvorde 
the crown of martyrdom." 

It seemed as if all who had been concerned in this first translation of the English Scriptures from 
the original tongues were to be admitted to the glory of martyrdom, for John Fryth, who had yielded 
some assistance in the work, was afterwards burnt to death in Smithfield ; and William Roye, who had 
at one time been Tyndale's amanuensis, was put to death in Portugal on a charge of heresy. Although 
the enemies of the truth thus succeeded in removing the translators from the earth, their efforts to 
suppress the translation, by destroying all the printed copies, were utterly unavailing. On one occa- 
sion Sir Thomas More, who was then chancellor, inquired of an individual who was suffering imprison- 
ment for conscience sake, how Tyndale subsisted abroad, and who were the persons in London that 
abetted and supported him : the prisoner replied, that it was the Bishop of London who maintained 
him by sending a sum of money to buy up the impression of his New Testament. The chancellor 
admitted the truth of the statement, and suffered the man to escape. 

Coverdale's Version of the entire Scriptures was published in 1535 : it was printed on the 
continent, but at what place is uncertain. In producing this version, Coverdale, by his individual 
energy, accomplished what the combined efforts of the king, of the two Houses of Convocation, and of 
Archbishop Cranmer, had been unable to effect; for in 1533 an edition of the complete English Bible 
had been resolved upon, and actually commenced by Cranmer, but the attempt proved utterly abortive. 
In his preface, Coverdale states that he had used five different Latin and " Douche" (or German) 
versions in the formation of his own. It is also certain from internal evidences that he availed 
himself largely of the labours of Tyndale. " His style," observes Scrivener, " is vigorous ; the 
renderings of particular texts are very perspicuous, though they are often questionable and diffuse; 
while an air of freshness and novelty pervades the volume, since no one of our translators has ventured 
on such bold interpretation as Coverdale, and but little of his peculiar diction was adopted by those 
who followed him." This translation, happily, was regarded with favour by Henry VIII., and was 
the first English Bible allowed by royal authority. This capricious monarch further directed, in 1536, 
that a copy of the whole Bible in Latin and in English should be laid in the choir of every church 
throughout the realm, " for every man that would, to look and read therein." 

Matthew's Bible was edited by John Eogers, the ardent friend of Tyndale, and the proto- 
martyr of Mary's reign. The whole of the New, and the first part of the Old Testament, as far as the 
end of the Second of Chronicles, was merely a reprint of Tyndale's version with a few orthographical 
alterations. Tyndale had also translated a number of chapters from the Prophetical Books, which had 
been printed along with the New Testament. These Rogers inserted, and the portions which Tyndale 
had left untranslated he supplied from Coverdale's version. The printers, Grafton and Whitchurch, 
bore unaided the entire expense of the publication of this work; and from prudential motives Rogers 
affixed to it the fictitious name of Thomas Matthew. It was printed in folio in 1537, probably at 
Marlborow in Hesse. It is remarkable that up to the day of its arrival in London, the very existence 



Class III.] ENGLISH. 201 

of this Bible was unknown to Henry and his ministers. During the previous ten years this version 
had been denounced and proscribed ; the copies surreptitiously imported into England had been 
searched for and burnt; even the persons by whom they had been read had been committed to the 
flames, and, only the year previously, the translator himself had been put to death ; and yet, 
no sooner was the entire version, " the desire of Tyndale's heart," printed for the first time in one 
volume and sent to England, than the hearts of those who had heretofore been persecutors were over- 
ruled to receive and sanction it. The volume received the royal license, and enactments were forth- 
with issued commanding the clergy to place copies in all the churches that the parishioners might 
obtain constant access to them. 

Cranmer's Great Bible (so called from its containing a prologue by Archbishop Cranmer, 
as well as from its size) is a revision of Matthew's Bible. The edition was commenced at Paris, where 
the paper was better and cheaper, and the workmen more skilful, than in England. But before the 
work could be completed at press, the Inquisition interfered, and the edition, consisting of 2500 copies, 
was seized and condemned to the flames. Some copies, however, were rescued and brought to 
England; the French printers were prevailed upon to bring their types and presses to London, and 
the edition was completed under the correction and revision of Coverdale in 1539. 

Taverner's Bible is likewise a revision of Matthew's Bible, edited, as the name imports, by 
Richard Taverner. It appeared in folio in 1549, and was dedicated to the king. 

The Geneva Version of the Bible is a revision of Tyndale's version, executed after the 
immortal work of Tyndale had been again diligently compared with the Hebrew and Greek texts. It 
was usual to ascribe this translation to the principal reformers who had taken refuge in Geneva during 
the persecutions of Mary. Anderson, however, has shown that so far from this version being the 
collective work of several individuals, the New Testament can in all probability be correctly attributed 
only to one individual, the Eev. William Whittingham, afterwards dean of Durham; while in the 
translation of the Old Testament, the names of Gilby and Sampson only are to be associated with that 
of Whittingham. The Old Testament appeared in 1540. The New Testament was published at 
Geneva in 1557, and is the first in our language which contains the distinction of verses by 
numerical figures. 

Archbishop Parker's or the Bishops' Bible was completed in 1568, after having been 
in course of preparation during three years. Several individuals were engaged in the work, for the 
Bible was divided into at least fourteen different portions, each of which was allotted to persons 
of learning and ability : eight of the individuals who thus took part in the revision were bishops ; 
hence the edition is generally known as the " Bishops' Bible." Archbishop Parker, the promoter of 
this revision, employed other critics to compare the version with the sacred texts, and he directed and 
reviewed the whole work himself. His object in setting forth this edition was, not to produce a new 
version, but to test and correct Cranmer's Bible, the translation then commonly in use, by a critical 
examination of the inspired originals. This Bible was in 1571 appointed to be used in churches, and 
for forty years it continued to be the Church version, although the Geneva Bible was more generally 
used in private houses. A reprint of the Bishops' Bible, published in 1572 in large folio, with cor- 
rections and prolegomena, is commonly called " Matthew Parker's Bible." 

King James's Bible, as our present authorised version is sometimes called, was commenced 
with the sanction of that monarch in the year 1604. It was undertaken on account of several objections 
having been made to the Bishops' Bible at the Conference held at Hampton Court during the 
preceding year. Fifty-four men, selected on account of their eminent classical attainments, were 



202 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

appointed to execute the work; but from death, or some other cause, only forty-seven eventually 
engaged in it. They were divided into six companies, to each of whom a separate portion was assigned. 
They met periodically, for the purpose of conferring on the result of their individual labours; and at 
these meetings, says Selden, " one read the translation, the rest holding in their hands some Bible, 
either of the learned tongues, or French, Spanish, Italian, etc. If they found any fault, they spoke; 
if not, he read on." The basis of the excellent version thus produced still continued to be Tyndale's; 
for, according to the directions given them at the outset, the translators followed the Bishops' Bible 
(which, as we have shewn, was based on that of Tyndale) as closely as the original would permit; but 
they compared it with the early editions of Tyndale's version, and with Coverdale's, Matthew's, 
Cranmer's, Taverner's, and the Genevan Bibles, and adopted from each the renderings which were 
the most faithful to the sacred text. Our present authorised version, therefore, so far from being a 
new translation, was a compilation from previous translations; but its inestimable value arises from 
the fact, that it is a compilation founded on a collation with the original Scriptures, conducted by men 
duly qualified for so momentous an undertaking. And it may be said to be, on the whole, the best 
substitute there is for the Hebrew and Greek originals. It was commenced in the spring of the year 
1607, and was completed at press in 1611. Selden, Lowth, Horsley, Middleton, and other learned 
men who have critically examined this Bible, bear testimony to its great excellence. Dr. Adam Clarke 
justly remarks, that " the translators have seized the very spirit and soul of the original;" and that, of 
all European translations, King James's version is " the most accurate and faithful." Although this 
precious volume bears the name of King James, we are not indebted to him even for pecuniary aid in 
its production. Its publication was a mere business transaction; the entire expenses of the work were 
undertaken by Robert Barker, patentee of the office of king's printer, and it was printed and published 
by him as a speculation in trade. This Bible of 1611 is, with some trifling emendations and ortho- 
graphical alterations, the Bible of all who use the English language at the present day. 

It must be observed, however, that the Roman Catholics have a version of their own, which is in 
general use among them in preference to ours. Their version of the New Testament was printed at 
Rheims in 1582, and that of the Old Testament at Douay in 1609-10. The real character and object 
of this version can only be learned from the preface and notes: the text does not contain many real 
departures from the Vulgate, although a studied obscurity involves the entire diction. A great number 
of Greek words, such as azymes, pasche, etc., are left untranslated, for the purpose, no doubt, of mis- 
leading and perplexing common readers. And the notes breathe such a spirit of treason, and such 
a recklessness of assertion, that now they are commonly omitted in reprints. The text has been 
frequently revised and printed for distribution among Roman Catholics, and from time to time it has 
been rendered more and more conformable to our own authorised text. 

The Socinians have also a version of the New Testament: it was published in London in 1808, 
by anonymous editors, professedly on the basis of Archbishop Newcome's translation; but his authority 
is disregarded in all passages where their peculiar sentiments can be obtruded. 

Several translations of portions of the Scriptures have been executed in English since the year 
1611; but our venerable authorised version has not hitherto, in whole or in part, been superseded by 
any. Passing over the translations of Bellamy and Geddes, which are too extravagant to deserve 
mention, several translations of particular books of Scripture by Lowth, Newcome, Horsley, Lee, 
Henderson and others, might be enumerated; yet these can scarcely be called versions in the popular 
sense of the term, being adapted rather for the learned than for the people. At the present time, there 
are associations established in America for the revision of King James's Bible, to meet the pretended 
wants of the Christian public there. But judging from the specimens put forth by those associations, 
the Authorised Version has nothing to fear. It rises high above the cavil of all its assailants in dignity 
and in force of language: in beauty of expression, and in an easy and free flow of words, to which no 
other version can aspire. We notice also a similar movement in this country, raised by persons who 
are little aware of what they desire, in wishing for a new version of the Bible. All our version requires 



Class III.] ENGLISH. 203 

is to be carefully revised, in order to fit it for public reading, leaving tbe frame and body of the whole 
work untouched. 

IV. — PRINTED EDITIONS OP THE ENGLISH SCRIPTURES. 

The editions of the Bible and Testament in our language have been so numerous, that even the 
bare enumeration of them would be a matter of absolute impossibility. During the eighty-seven years 
which elapsed from the appearance of the first portion of Tyndale's version (a.d. 1524) to the publi- 
cation of the authorised version in 1611, at least 278 editions of the Bible and Testament are known 
to have been printed ; of these the principal are the following : — 

1524. The Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, translated by Tyndale, printed at Hamburgh. 

1525. The New Testament of Tyndale's version, in 4to., published at Cologne and Worms: only 

one fragment of this work is known to be in existence: it was discovered in 1834 by 
Mr. Kodd, a bookseller, who happening to examine a quarto tract by CEcolampadius, 
which he had received from a friend, perceived that there was attached to it, by binding, 
a portion in the English language, black letter. This proved to be a relic of the three 
thousand copies of Tyndale's first edition of the New Testament. It afterwards adorned 
the library of the Hon. Thomas Grenville, and by his munificent gift it is now in the 
British Museum. 

1526. The New Testament of the same version in 18mo., published at Worms. Until recently 

this has been generally believed to have been the first edition of Tyndale's version. 
A copy, wanting the titlepage, is in the Baptist museum at Bristol, from which the 
London reprint, published by Mr. Bagster in 1836, was executed. 

1526. The New Testament of the same version, published at Antwerp. This was the first 
surreptitious edition, and was followed by two other editions, printed at the same place, 
during the two subsequent years. A corrected edition, compared with the Greek by 
Tyndale, was published in 1534 : it forms one of the versions in the English Hexapla. 

1535. The entire Bible, with the Apocrypha, translated by Coverdale, some time lord bishop of 
Exeter, published in London, in folio. An exact reprint of this Bible, in Roman cha- 
racters, was published by Mr. Bagster, in 4to. in 1838, from a copy in the possession of 
the late Duke of Sussex. A second edition has since been issued. 

1537. Matthew's Bible, in folio, probably printed at Marlborow, in Hesse. Matthew was the 
cognomen adopted by Rogers, the translator. This Bible was a revised edition of 
Tyndale's version, with the chapters which he had left untranslated supplied from 
Coverdale's version, the whole being carefully corrected by Rogers. 

1539. Hollybushe's New Testament, 8vo., London. This is a reprint of Coverdale's translation, 
with the Latin version. The printer, Nicolson, inserted the name of Hollybushe, a man 
employed by him, in the titlepage. This New Testament was reprinted in 8vo., in 
London, a.d. 1839. 

1539. Cranmer's Great Bible, folio. This edition was commenced at Paris, and finished in 
London. It is a revision of Matthew's Bible, produced by a re-examination of the 
sacred texts; and with the prologues and notes by Tyndale, and the other notes 
appended to Matthew's Bible, wholly omitted. It contains a prologue, or preface, by 
Archbishop Cranmer. 

1539. Taverner's Bible, folio, London. This was a correction of Matthew's Bible, with a large 
proportion of his marginal notes retained, and others added by Taverner. 

1550. The Gospel of Matthew, and part of the first chapter of St. Mark's Gospel, was translated 
by Sir John Cheke, from the Greek, about the year 1550; but this version, with the 
original notes that accompanied it, remained in MS. till 1843, when it was committed 
to the press under the editorship of the Rev. James Goodwin. Sir John Cheke made 



204 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

much use of the older English versions, and especially endeavoured to avoid the intro- 
duction of any word derived from a Latin root. 

1557. The Geneva New Testament in 8vo., printed at Geneva, by Conrad Badius. The second 
edition was published at the same place in 1560. An exact reprint of the edition of 
1557, with the italic supplements and marginal annotations of the original, was 
published by Mr. Bagster in 1842: it also appears as one of the versions of the English 
Hexapla. 

1560. The Geneva Bible (containing the Old and New Testaments, with annotations), printed in 
4to. at Geneva. The second edition was published in folio, in London, the following 
year: numerous other editions were subsequently printed at Geneva and London. 
Some editions of the Geneva Bible (as those of 1599 and of 1611) contain Beza's 
translation of the New Testament, Englished by L. Thompson. At least 129 editions 
of the Geneva Bible and Testament are known to have been printed between the years 
1560 and 1611. 

1568. Archbishop Parker's, or the Bishops' Bible, folio, London: another edition, in quarto, was 
issued the following year for the use of families. This Bible has numerous marginal 
references, notes, and tables. The words which are printed in italics by James's trans- 
lators are here printed in a smaller type, and placed between brackets. The chapters 
are divided into verses, and the 7th verse of 1 John v., which was before printed in a 
different letter, is here inserted in the same type as the rest of the volume. 

1611. The present authorised version, commonly called King James's Bible, folio, London. In 
1649, in consequence of the high estimation in which the Genevan version continued to 
be held, this version was printed with the Genevan notes; but about this period, says 
Anderson, it prevailed, and took the place it has occupied ever since. 

1769. A revised edition of the authorised version, prepared by Dr. Blayney, under the direction 
of the vice-chancellor and delegates of the Clarendon press at Oxford. This is con- 
sidered a standard edition, on account of its great accuracy ; yet one hundred and 
sixteen typographical errors, which evaded the scrutiny of Dr. Blayney, were rectified 
by Eyre and Strahan in their editions of 1806 and 1813. 

There is no land which has been so highly favoured as Britain in the multiplicity of editions of 
the Scriptures printed since the year 1611. The number of copies of the Scriptures printed by the 
British and Foreign Bible Society alone, from its establishment in 1804 to the beginning of 1860, is 
as follows: — 

Bibles 10,609,106 

Testaments 10,859,816 

Psalms . . . . . 568,587 

Gospels and Acts . . . . 5,198 

If to these be added the number of copies printed by the Universities, together with those pub- 
lished by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and other kindred Societies, with the 
numerous editions published by Messrs. Bagster, as well as those issued in Scotland, the aggregate 
amount seems almost incredible. The number of English Bibles and New Testaments separately 
which have passed through the press within the perfect recollection of many now living, has exceeded 
the number of souls in Britain! It has been more than double the population in 1801 ! And yet 
there is in many places an awful destitution. A large proportion has been sent to the colonies; and if 
Mr. Dudley's calculation be correct, of wear and tear (in schools particularly) at the rate of 15 per cent. 
■per annum, we shall cease to wonder at the continued demand. 

A revised edition of the authorised English version was a few years since published at New York, 
under the sanction of the "American Bible Union" institution of that city. In this edition the 



Class III.] FLEMISH. 205 

phraseology of the authorised version is to a great extent retained, but some corrections and emenda- 
tions, proposed by eminent biblical scholars, have been introduced; and the ecclesiastical and Latinised 
terms employed in certain passages by King James's translators are rendered into plain English words, 
adapted to the comprehension of unlearned readers. 



FLEMISH. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

[Brussels, 1838.] 

In het beginne was het Woordt, en het Woordt was by Godt, en het Woordt was 
Godt. 2 Dit was in het beginne by Godt. 3 Alle dingen zyn door het zelve gemaekt, en 
zonder dat en is 'er niet gemaekt van al dat 'er gemaekt is. 4 In 't zelve was het leven, 
en 't leven was het licht der menschen. 5 En het licht schynt in de duysternisse, en de 
duysternis en heeft 'et niet begrepen. 6 Daer was eenen mensch van Godt afgezonden, 
met name Joannes. 7 Dezen quam als getuyge, om getuygenisse van het licht te geven, 
op dat zy alle door hem gelooven zouden. 8 Hy en was het licht niet, maer om getuyge- 
nisse te geven van het licht. 9 Dit was het waeragtig licht, het welk alle menschen 
verlicht, komende. in deze wereldt. 10 Hy was in de wereldt, en de wereldt is door hem 
gemaekt, en de wereldt en heeft hem niet gekent. n Hy quam in syn eyge, en de syne 
en namen hem niet aen. 12 Maer aen alle, die hem aengenomen hebben, heeft hy de magt 
vergunt van kinderen Godts te worden, aen hen, die in synen naem gelooven. 13 Welke 
niet uyt den bloede, noch uyt den wille des vleesch, noch uyt den wille des mans, maer 
uyt Godt geboren zyn. u En het Woordt is vleesch geworden, en heeft onder ons 
gewoont : en wy hebben syne glorie gezien, een glorie als van den eenig-geboren des 
Vaders, vol van gratie en waerheyt. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Flemish, though merely a dialectic variety of the Dutch, is entitled to prior consideration on 
account of its being the older dialect of the two. It is spoken in East and "West Flanders, in Antwerp, 
and in part of Limburg, the collective population of which, according to the latest census (1856), exceeds 
2,000,000. It is also spoken in the arrondissements of Brussels and Louvain, in Brabant, and even in 
parts of the neighbouring departments of France. In the other provinces of the kingdom of Belgium, 
(namely, Liege, Namur, Hainault, part of Luxemburg, and the arrondissement of Nivelles in Brabant,) 
Walloon, which is derived from the French of the thirteenth century, is spoken. German is exten- 
sively spoken in portions of Luxemburg and Limburg; but Modern French is the language of the 
court, of the legislature, and of general literature, throughout Belgium. It is extensively cultivated by 
the educated classes, and, even in the proper Flemish provinces, all government notices are drawn up 
in French as well as in Flemish. The dominant religion in Belgium is Roman Catholicism: during 
the frightful persecutions of the Duke of Alva, under Philip II. of Spain, the Protestants of Belgium, 
having no alternative between recantation and martyrdom, fled the country; and it was not until the 
period of the French revolution that Protestantism was even tolerated. 



206 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

One language, sometimes called the Belgic, a branch of the Platt-Deutsch, or Low German, was 
originally common to the people of Holland and Belgium. It was introduced into this country by 
various Germanic tribes, among whom may be mentioned as the most remarkable the Batavi, celebrated 
as the brave allies of the Romans, and the Saxons and Salian Franks, who, on the fall of the Roman 
empire, dispossessed the Batavi, and established themselves in their territories. The Belgse, from whom 
the whole country received its ancient denomination, are by some regarded as a Celtic, and by others 
as a Germanic, race; while others contend that they were a mixed race of borderers. It is, however, 
generally admitted that the present language of the Netherlands results from the coalescence of the 
petty dialects of numerous tribes of Germanic extraction, among whom the country was subdivided. 
In the thirteenth century, the language then predominant in Holland as well as in Flanders received 
the appellation of Flemish on account of the flourishing state of the Flemings, and the superior diction 
and grammatical accuracy of their writers; and by this name it continued to be frequently designated, 
until the language we now call the Dutch, from being a mere provincial dialect of the Flemish, 
acquired the dignity of a written and polished tongue. " Even at the present day," says a recent 
writer, " Flemish appears nothing more than the Dutch of the preceding century." Flemish differs 
'from Dutch chiefly in orthography and pronunciation; and owing, perhaps, to the great ascendancy 
of the French language in Belgium, it has adopted many French words. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 
Brandt, in his History of the Reformation, speaks of certain Protestants in the Netherlands 
turning the Scriptures into Low Dutch rhymes, in the early part of the thirteenth century, "according 
to the custom of these ages, and in imitation of the Old Germans, who used to record their most 
memorable transactions in verse." A prose version of the Scriptures is also said to have been 
executed about the year 1300, and Le Long gives the following short list of ancient MSS. : — 

1. Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, four Books of Kings, Tobit, Daniel, Judith, Esdras, Esther, and 

Maccabees, in Belgic; folio. In the Colbert Library. 

2. Four Gospels, written 1472. In the Bodleian Library. 

3. Epistles of Paul, the Acts, and the Apocalypse; also in the Bodleian Library. 

4. Apocalypse in the Brabant (or Flemish) language. In the Basle Library. 

The first printed edition of the Belgic, or Flemish, Bible appears to have been that published in 
two volumes folio, at Delft, in 1477, and again at Gouda, in folio, in 1479. It is unknown when the 
translation was executed; Le Long says, that the text is the same as that of 1300. It is evidently 
translated from the Latin Vulgate, and the Gouda edition of 1479 contains several fabulous narratives 
intermixed with the text. Other editions were printed at Antwerp in 1518 and 1525. 

In 1526 another translation of the Scriptures into Belgic was made by several learned men, whose 
names, unfortunately, have not been transmitted to us, and was published at Antwerp. It seems to 
have been collated with such parts of Luther's version as had then been published ; and in later 
editions was rendered still more conformable to that celebrated version. The printer, Jacob a Lies- 
veldt, published several successive editions of this Belgic translation at Antwerp, but he was at last 
condemned and beheaded, because, in the annotations of one of his Bibles, he had said that " the 
salvation of mankind proceeds from Christ alone." 

The next edition was that of the Old Testament by William Vosterman, who represented it aa 
having been printed from a very carefully corrected translation of the Latin text; but Le Long says, 
that " it sometimes departs from Luther's version, and in other cases follows it." The Old Testament 
was published at Antwerp, in folio, in 1528, and the New Testament in 1531, and again in 1533. 



Class III.] FLEMISH. 207 

This edition was followed by others, almost too numerous to be here specified. Many of these 
editions were afterwards prohibited by the Inquisition, and their continued publication was suspended 
by the edict of Charles V. in 1546, which ordered that "none should presume to print any books 
unless they first obtained from the emperor a license for exercising the trade of a printer, &c, on pain 
of death." It was, however, found impossible to withhold the Scriptures from the people, and certain 
divines of the University of Louvain took upon themselves the task of revising and correcting the 
Belgic version according to the last revision of the Latin Vulgate. Nicholas von Wingh, a regular 
canon of Louvain, was the principal conductor of this work; an edition of the whole Bible was 
published by him and his assistants, in folio, at Louvain and Cologne, in 1548. This version was 
examined and approved by learned doctors of the faculty of theology of Louvain, deputed by Charles; 
and it was published under the sanction of that emperor. 

After numerous editions of this version had been issued at Antwerp, it was revised and corrected by 
the doctors of Louvain, according to the text of the Vulgate, as revised by order of Pope Clement VIII. 
This revised translation was printed at the celebrated Plan tin press, at Antwerp, in 1599; again at 
Cologne in 1604, and at Antwerp in 1626: and it may, perhaps, be regarded as the standard Flemish 
version. 

Several other revised editions of this version followed. In 1717 another version of the Belgic 
Scriptures was published, with short notes on difficult passages, by ^Egidius Wit, a Ghent divine. ■ 
This version chiefly follows the Vulgate, but in certain parts the original texts have been consulted : 
the idiom in which it is written is that of the provinces of Flanders and Brabant. 

About the same time another translation of the Belgic Bible was commenced by Andrew 
Scurrius of Gorcum, licentiate of the University of Louvain. Two volumes were printed at Utrecht 
in 1715-1717: but the death of the translator in 1719 put an end to the work, when he had carried 
it only as far as the Second Book of Kings. It is said to be in the purest dialect of the Flemish. 

Several other translations of the whole, or parts, of the Scriptures into Flemish migbt be 
enumerated, but little is known concerning them beyond the mere name of the translator, and date 
of execution. In 1689-90 a Flemish version was published at Emmerick, which had been made by 
Andrew Vander Schuren, from the French edition of Mons, the first edition of De Sacy's French 
version. This version went through several editions at Emmerick and at Antwerp. Another 
Flemish translation according to the Vulgate was printed at Antwerp in 1717, and again at Utrecht 
in 1718. This is the last Flemish version mentioned by Le Long. 

In 1820, in accordance with the wishes of the people, permission was given by the Archbishop 
of Malines to an individual to print an edition of the Flemish New Testament, translated by Maurentorf, 
without note or comment, for the use of the Roman Catholics; and it was at the same time stated that 
no such edition had been printed since the year 1717. The edition sanctioned by the archbishop 
appeared at Brussels about the year 1821; and an edition of the whole Bible was printed at the same 
time from the Louvain edition of 1599. This latter edition found a wide circulation, the Bible 
having, from the scarcity of copies, become almost an unknown book in the Flemish provinces. It 
does not appear that the British and Foreign Bible Society granted any assistance in the publication 
of this edition; but owing to its favourable reception, an edition consisting of 2656 copies was printed, 
by order, it is generally supposed, of that Society at Brussels in 1825. It was printed from the 
Antwerp edition of the Flemish Testament published in 1717, and in the same 12mo. form. Owing 
however to the overthrow of the Orange family, and the consequent increased influence of the priests, 
this edition remained very much as a dead stock upon the hands of the Society, until the arrival of 
Mr. W. P. Tiddy in the country about the year 1833. Affected with the state of Belgium, and its 
awful destitution of the Scriptures, he made several applications for small supplies in French and 
Flemish, which were cheerfully granted. At length, in 1835, he was invited to settle at Brussels as 
the agent of the Society, when he very soon disposed of the remaining copies of the Flemish Testament. 
A second edition of the Flemish Testament, of 8000 copies, was printed under his superintendence 



208 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

at Brussels in 1837, followed by a third edition of the Testament, and an edition of the entire Bible. 
Another edition (of 5000 copies) of the Flemish Testament issued from the Brussels press in 1854. 
The total number of copies issued by the Society up to the beginning of 1860 have been 5000 Bibles, 
and 78,750 Testaments. 

The active agency of Mr. Tiddy on the Bible Society's behalf — extended over a period of above v 
eighteen years (1835 to 1854) — has been productive of highly important results in connexion with the 
distribution of the Word of God. Besides the central depository at Brussels, depositories for the sale of 
the Scriptures have been opened at Amsterdam and Cologne, and the total issue of copies of the 
Scriptures from these three depots, for the supply of Belgium, Holland, and Northern Germany, in the 
respective languages vernacular to each, amounted up to the commencing portion of the year 1854 to 
the extraordinary number of 899,568 volumes. Since Mr. Tiddy 's retirement from this post, in 1854, 
the separate agencies have been maintained, and with a like measure of success. 



DUTCH. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

In den beginne was het Woord, en het Woord was bij God, en het Woord was God. 
2 Dit was in den beginne bij God. 3 Alle dingen zijn door hetzelve gemaakt, en zonder 
hetzelve is geen ding gemaakt, dat gemaakt is. 4 In hetzelve was het leven, en het leven 
was het licht der menschen. 5 En het licht schijnt in de duisternis, en de duisternis heeft 
hetzelve niet begrepen. 6 Er was een mensch van God gezonden, wiens naam was 
Johannes. 7 Deze kwam tot eene getuigenis, om van het licht te getuigen, opdat zij alien 
door hem gelooven zouden. 8 Hij was het licht niet, maar was gezonden, opdat hij van 
het licht getuigen zou. 9 Dit was het waarachtige licht, hetwelk verlicht een' iegelijk 
mensch, komende in de wereld. l0 Hij was in de wereld, en de wereld is door hem 
gemaakt ; en de wereld heeft hem niet gekend. u Hij is gekomen tot het zijne, en de 
zijnen hebben hem niet aangenomen. 12 Maar zoo velen hem aangenomen hebben, dien 
heeft hij magt gegeven kinderen Gods te worden, namelijk die in zijnen naam gelooven ; 
13 Welke niet uit den bloede, noch uit den wil den vleesches, noch uit den wil des mans, 
maar uit God geboren zijn. 14 En het Woord is vleesch geworden, en heeft onder ons 
gewoond (en wij hebben zijne heerlijkheid aanschouwd, eene heerlijkheid als des 
eeniggeborenen van den Vader), vol van genade en waarheid. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Dutch is a language spoken by all classes of society in Holland. This kingdom comprises the terri- 
tories which formerly belonged to the Seven United Provinces; and its total area, including Dutch 
Limburg and Dutch Luxemburg, is 13,598 square miles. The population, according to the latest 
census (1857), is 3,523,800. The number of Roman Catholics in Holland has been estimated at from 
1,000,000 to 1,500,000: the majority of the Protestants belong to the Calvinistic or Dutch Reformed 
Church, which is similar in many respects to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. There are, like- 



Class III.] DUTCH. 209 

wise, considerable numbers of Lutherans, Remonstrants, and Mennonites, in Holland; all sects are freely- 
tolerated, and the Church and State having been separated since 1816, the teachers of every denomi- 
nation can receive pay from the State. The Dutch language is also spoken to a great extent in 
Southern Africa, which was formerly under the dominion of Holland : it is likewise spoken, more or 
less, in Java, the Moluccas, and the other Dutch colonies, and among the Dutch colonists of the 
United States. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Except in orthography and pronunciation, Dutch, in almost every respect, resembles the Flemish 
language. Like Flemish, it is very rich in compound words, which it forms freely from its own 
indigenous roots: it possesses more terms of Latin origin than the German, though fewer than the 
English; and being derived, like the English, from the low German stem, many of its words present a 
remarkable analogy to the corresponding English terms. In pronunciation it is more guttural than the 
Flemish, and even than the German ; but although neither soft nor musical, it is sonorous and 
emphatic: "it has not," says Dr. Bowring, "the beauties of the vowelled idioms of the South, but 
it has beauties they can never possess ; and especially in the variety and grace of its diminutives 
(a quality in which our language is singularly deficient), it may be compared with the richest 
among them." 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

It has been remarked, that the experience of the Dutch churches in the production of a standard 
version has been rather similar to our own; for, like us, they had long to wait before the great work 
could be completed. The first Dutch version concerning which any thing is accurately known was 
a bad translation of Luther's German version, made about the middle of the sixteenth century, by an 
elder of the Reformed Church, at Embden. The necessity of procuring an improved version was 
publicly discussed as early as 1571, and seems to have occupied the attention of all the synods of the 
Dutch churches from that period till 1618. Political troubles, however, drew the public funds into 
another channel; and it was not till the famous Synod of Dort, in 1618-19, that actual preparations 
were made for the immediate commencement of a new translation. Six translators and eight revisers 
for the Old, and as many for the New Testament, were chosen by the votes of the Dutch members of 
the synod; and the States General were requested to undertake the expense of the work. In the 
directions delivered to the translators, the foremost were, — " That they should adhere religiously to the 
original text, and solicitously retain the very phrases of the original tongues, so far as perspicuity, and 
the idiom of the Dutch language, permitted; and that in supplying ellipses, when the sense actually 
required it, they should use as few words as possible, and express those in the text by a different 
character, and included in brackets, that they might be distinguished from the text itself." 

The translators of the Old Testament entered upon their work at Leyden, in 1626, and held daily 
meetings, which they invariably commenced with prayer. The translation of the New Testament was 
conducted in the same spirit of prayer; it was commenced in 16.28, and finished in 1634: the trans- 
lation of the Old Testament was completed in 1632. Each book was printed as soon as finished, and 
a copy was sent to each of the revisers. The revision of the Old Testament was begun in 1633, and 
completed in 1634. Six hours daily were devoted to the work, and the revisers commenced each 
meeting with prayer, and ended with thanksgiving; those who were not punctual in attendance were 
fined a small sum, which was given to the poor. The revisers of the New Testament commenced their 
undertaking in 1634, and during the latter part of the year which they devoted to it the plague was 
raging at Leyden, yet, although their meetings were held in a room overlooking a churchyard in 
which interments were continually taking place, not one of their number was attacked by the disease. 
It is also remarkable, that none of the translators long survived the completion of the work. It may 
have been that the arduous nature of the undertaking tended to abridge their lives, for, although they 

15 



210 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

were all men of great literary attainments, many of them declared that they had never before laboured 
as they did at the translation of the Bible. 

The first edition was printed at Leyden, in 1637. The Remonstrants, who were followers of 
Arminius, and vehemently opposed to the translators in their religious opinions, deputed four of tbeir 
most learned men to examine the translation. After strict investigation, they were so struck with the 
faithfulness and accuracy of the version, that they adopted it as their own, and the Old Testament has 
been in use among the Remonstrants ever since. After the lapse of more than forty years, a version 
of the New Testament was executed expressly for their use by Christian Hartsoeker, an Arminian 
minister, at Rotterdam. It was printed at Amsterdam in 1680; but although professedly a new 
translation from the Greek, it chiefly follows the version of the synod. 

The orthography of the established version was altered in one edition, according to the system 
introduced in 1806 by Professor Siegenbeek, and which received the sanction of the government. 
The Rev. Henry Cats, minister of the Dutch Reformed Church at Leyden, was employed to effect 
the necessary alterations ; but he died before he had finished the work, and it was completed by 
Professor Van Hengel. The revised edition appeared in 4to., in 1834. Siegenbeek's system has since 
fallen into disrepute, and has not been adopted in subsequent editions. 

This beautiful and emphatic version still retains its place as the authorised text of the Dutch 
Church; but a new translation has since been made, in the modern style and orthography, by the 
learned Professor Van der Palm, of Leyden: it was published in 1825, and, though not adopted in 
churches, it is greatly esteemed and extensively used. Another translation, which, however, included 
only the Gospel of St. Matthew and the Epistle to the Romans, was made from the Greek, by Adam 
Boreel, of Zealand: it was published at Amsterdam in 1693, with the Greek text. 

Within a recent period the Netherlands Bible Society appointed a commission to modernise the 
orthography of the Bible, and the alterations which were introduced, both in spelling and in some 
points of grammar, were considerable. All the editions of that Society are now printed with these 
alterations. 

Several editions of the authorised Dutch version have been issued by the British and Foreign 
Bible Society. Their first edition, consisting of 5000 copies of the New Testament, appeared in 1809; 
it was designed primarily for the Dutch prisoners of war in this country, and eventually for the 
Dutch settlements and colonies. Considerable numbers of these copies were forwarded to the Cape of 
Good Hope, and were most thankfully received; for it was ascertained that not a single Dutch Bible 
could be had for money throughout that extensive colony. On receipt of this intelligence, the Society 
immediately commenced a large edition of the entire Dutch Bible. Several large editions have since 
been printed, at the Society's expense, at Breda, in Holland; amongst them was one consisting of 
105,000 Testaments, in diamond, 32mo., in 1850. A 4to. edition of the Bible, with chapter headings 
and marginal references, specially intended for family use, and consisting of 5000 copies, issued from 
the press at Arnheim on account of the Society in 1859. The total number of copies issued by the 
Society up to the beginning of 1860 amounted to 171,395 Bibles, 601,154 Testaments, and 15,500 
Psalters. The Netherlands Bible Society has distributed, since its formation in 1815, altogether above 
700,000 copies. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

During the last nine years no less than 326,689 copies of the Scriptures have been sold in 
Holland by colporteurs, and many instances have been reported of the blessing of God accompanying 
their perusal. A colporteur, labouring in Drenthe and Groningen, met with an instance in which one 
New Testament had been blessed to several persons. A Roman Catholic family, in whose house there 
were continual quarrels before the introduction of the Scriptures, now live in peace and harmony. 
The parents, through the power of the word, have become converted characters. " We have evidence," 
it is further stated in a recent Report, " that the work in Holland has been blessed by the Lord. 



Class III.] CREOLESE. 211 

Many who, when first offered the Scriptures, mocked or insulted the colporteurs, have more lately 
purchased them with avidity. Others, who were remarkable for their awful oaths, have become humble 
worshippers of the living God. At Eotterdam, and in the environs, there has been a great revival, 
through the distribution of the Bible." Eecent issues of the Dutch Scriptures by the British and 
Foreign Bible Society to the settlers at the Cape have been very large, and have been attended with a 
great blessing to the colony, particularly in schools. 



CEEOLESE. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

In die Begin die Woord ha wees, en die Woord ha wees bie Godt, en Godt ha wees 
die Woord. 2 Die selve ha wees bie Godt in die Begin. s Almael gut ka maek door 
die selve ; en sonder die niet een gut ka maek, van almael, wat ka maek. 4 Die Leven 
ha wees in hem, en die Leven ha wees die Ligt van die Mensen. 5 En die Ligt ha skien 
in die Dysternis, en die Dysternis no ha begriep die. 6 Die ha hab ee Mens, Godt ha 
stier hem, en sie Naem ha wees Johannes. 7 Hem ha kom tot een Getiegnis, dat hem 
ha sal getieg van die Ligt, dat almael ha sal gloov door hem. 8 Hem no ha wees die 
Ligt, maer dat hem ha sal getieg van die Ligt. 9 Die ha wees die waeragtig Ligt, die 
verligt almael Mensen, die kom na die Weereld. 10 Hem ha wees in die Weereld, en 
die Weereld ka maek door hem, en die Weereld no ka ken hem. n Hem ha kom na sie 
Eigendom, en sie eigen no ha neem hem an. 12 Maer sooveel ka neem hem an, na sender 
hem ka giev Magt for kom Kinders van Godt, die gloov in sie Naem ; 13 Die no bin 
gebooren van Blud, ook niet van die Wil van Vleis, ook niet van die Wil van Man, 
maer van Godt. 14 En die Woord ka kom Vleis, en ka woon onder ons, en ons ka kik 
sie Heerligheid, een Heerligheid, als van die eenig gebooren Soon van die Vaeder, vol 
van Gnaede en Waerheid. 

Creolese, a kind of broken Dutch, with a rather Danish orthography, is the language of the black 
population in the Danish West Indies. The possessions of the Danes in the West Indies consist 
of three islands, namely, St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John, all of which form part of the Virgin 
group. Of these islands, St. Croix, or, as it is frequently called, Santa Cruz, is the most important: 
it contains an area of about 110 square miles, and a population of 32,000, chiefly negroes. 
St. Thomas comprises an area of 37 square miles, and its population is estimated at 7000, of whom 
about 500 are whites. In St. John there are 150 whites and 250 negroes: the population to whom 
this language is (or rather was) vernacular, is, therefore, upwards of 39,000. 

The Creolese idiom is very peculiar, possessing no distinction of gender or of number (so far at 
least as terminations are concerned), no declension of nouns, and no simple conjugation of verbs. The 
New Testament was translated into this language, and an edition printed at Copenhagen, by order of 
the Danish government, in 1781. A school-book, containing the Ten Commandments and the Lord's 
Prayer, in Creolese, was published about the same period, by order of the same authority. Another 
edition of the New Testament, consisting of 1500 copies, was printed at Copenhagen, in 1818, by 



212 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

the Danish Bible Society. It is said, however, that Creolese has long been gradually fallino- into 
disuse, and that it has now ceased to be spoken. The slaves, or, as the Danes wish to have them 
called, " the unfreed," were in 1848 nominally emancipated in the Danish islands ; and on this 
occasion a copy of the New Testament and Psalms in the English language, furnished by the British 
and Foreign Bible Society, was presented to each negro who could read, and who was not in possession 
of the Scriptures. 



SURINAM NEGRO-ENGLISH. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Na begin da Woord ben de, da Woord ben de nanga Gado, en da Woord ben de Gado 
srefi. 2 Da ben de nanga Gado na begin. 3 Nanga hem allasanni ben kom, en sondro 
hem no wansanni ben kom, dissi de. 4 Da Liebi ben de na inni va hem, en da Liebi ben 
de da kandera va somma. 5 En da kandera de krieni na dongroe, ma dongroe no ben teki 
da kandera. 6 Gado ben senni wan somma, hem neem Johannes ; 7 Da srefiwan ben kom 
vo wan getuigenis, va a getuige vo da kandera, va dem allamal kom briebi nanga hem. 
8 Hem srefi no ben de da kandera, ma a ben kom va takki vo da kandera. 9 Datti da reti 
troe kandera, dissi kieni gi alia somma dissi kom na kondre. 10 A ben de na kondre, en 
em srefi ben meki kondre ; en kondre no ben sabi hem. ll A ben kom na hem Eigendom, 
en dem somma va hem no ben teki hem. 12 Ma sa menni va dem dissi ben teki hem, na 
dem a ben gi tranga, va kom pikien va Gado : dem, dissi briebi na hem neem. 13 Dissi 
no komoppo na broedoe, efn na wanni vo skien [nanga broedoe], efia na wanni vo wan 
man, ma dissi ben kom gebore na Gado. u En da Woord ben kom somma, a ben liebi 
na wi mindri, en wi ben si hem Glori, wan Grangglori, dissi fitti da wan Pikien va Tatta 
Gado, foeloe va Gnade en Troefasi. 

Negro-English, or, as it might be designated with equal propriety, Negro-Dutch, is the lan- 
guage of the Dutch colony of Surinam, in Guiana, and is current among a population of at least 
100,000, of whom 80,000 are slaves, 10,000 free negroes, and 10,000 are Dutch and other Europeans. 
A mission of the United Brethren has existed in Surinam since 1738: there are now more than 13,000 
negroes in connexion with the Moravian Church, and 10,000 unconverted negroes are under Christian 
instruction; for the prejudices of the colonists against the education of the negroes are wearing away, 
,and the missionaries are permitted access to more than 150 plantations. 

The language of these negroes is a compound of English and Dutch, with a sprinkling of Spanish, 
Portuguese, French, and African or Indian words. It is doubtful whether the English or the Dutch 
element predominates : the former was introduced when the English were possessors of the colony ; but 
the Dutch, with few interruptions, have held possession since the year 1669, and many of their words 
and phrases have, in consequence, become incorporated with the language. The country was discovered 
by the Spanish, and, at some remote period, was subjugated by the Portuguese, and subsequently by 
the French; and this accounts for the presence of Spanish, Portuguese, and French words in the 
language. The structure of Negro-English is simple and inartificial in the extreme, and it is nearly 



Class III.] SURINAM NEGRO-ENGLISH. 213 

devoid of grammatical forms. Almost every word terminates with a vowel; and, according to Captain 
Stedman's account, it is " sweet, sonorous, and soft" in enunciation, and, moreover, " wonderfully 
expressive and sentimental." The vocabulary is by no means copious, but this deficiency is supplied 
by the ease with which the words are compounded. This language will probably, in process of time, 
sink into disuse ; yet the prospect is but small that either the present or the ensuing generation will be 
able to dispense with it. 

A translation of the Harmony of the Gospels, as used in the Moravian Church, was early made in 
this language, and a version of the Acts, Epistles and part of the book of Revelation, was executed by 
Mr. Schuman prior to the year 1813. In 1828 a version of the entire New Testament had been 
completed by the Moravian missionaries, and had been repeatedly and carefully corrected. The MS. 
was sent to Germany, and was revised by Hans Wied, who for upwards of twenty years had resided in 
Surinam, and was intimately acquainted with the language: the opinion he passed on the translation 
was, " that it is as perfect as possible." The Brethren's Society for Propagating the Gospel, therefore, 
applied for aid to the British and Foreign Bible Society, and an edition of 1000 copies was accordingly 
printed in London, under the supervision of Mr. Latrobe, assisted by C. A. Austen, Esq., of Queen's 
College, Cambridge, a natiA^e of Surinam. The copies were all forwarded to Surinam, and were 
received with much gratitude; but the edition was soon exhausted, and after the last copy had been 
disposed of, more than 12,000 converts were added to the Church. Another edition of the New 
Testament and Psalms was therefore prepared by Mr. Treu, a Moravian missionary; and at length, 
in 1845, its publication was resolved on by the Missionary Society of the United Brethren in Holland. 
Aid was granted by the Netherlands Bible Society, but the chief expenses of printing were defrayed 
by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The edition, which consisted of 2000 copies, left the press 
in 1846. 

The intelligence received within recent years from Dutch Guiana furnishes most gratifying and 
hopeful accounts of the progress of missionary labour in that region. The Surinam Mission supports at 
the present time above fifty missionaries, stationed in different parts of the colony, and upwards of 
20,000 negroes and coloured people are converts to the Gospel. School-houses, as well as churches, 
have been numerously erected, and, notwithstanding impediments, due to various causes (and most 
especially to the existence of slavery), the cause of Christian truth is making steady advance amongst 
its long benighted population. " On every estate (writes one of the labourers in this vineyard) there 
are some, perhaps only a few, yet some who are decided Christians — children indeed as regards know- 
ledge and practice, yet evidently believers in Jesus." The benefits of the mission are not confined to 
the negro portion of the population: — " During my visit to the Para plantation, we met with a married 
couple belonging to the Arawack tribe. After some conversation with them, I read to them St. Paul's 
sermon at Athens, from Acts, chap, xvii, as I fortunately happened to have a copy of that portion of 
Scripture in the Arawack language. The impression which this produced was very striking. The 
woman, who was advanced in years, burst into tears, and her husband appeared to be much affected also. 
They both came afterwards to the meeting, as they understood the Negro-English dialect." 



214 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

NORSE, OR ICELANDIC. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 12. 

[VlDEYAE KlATJSTEI, 1841.] 

3 u^aft oar Drbib og Drbib Oar ftd ®ubi, og orbib Oar @ub. 2 pab Oar i utoOr)afi r)i« ©ubi. 3 2IMr fjlutir 
eru fJ)rir fab gjorbir og an }>e(g er ef fert til orbib, fern tit er. 4 3 }>0i Oar lif og liftb Oar IjoS mannanna ; 5 Og tjojtb 
ffein t mtyrfrinu og nttyrfrib ntebto! ]>ab dfx. 6 3Wabur noffurr Oar fenbur af ©ubt, t)ann t)it 3or)anne§. 7 peffl font 
til Oitnigourbar, ao fjann Oituabi unt Ijoftb, §00 aflir tri)bu sfyrir t)ang oitniSourb. 8 (Sffi Oar l)ann Ijoftb tjelbur 
dtti r)ann ab Oitna unt tjoffb. 9 pab Oar §tb [anna IjoS, fern ufcfcttyftr r)0otn ntann, er font i fjeintinn. 10 .pab Oar 
i tjeintinunt og r)eintttrinn Oar ftyrir fab gjorbur og pettti fjann J>6 effi. u >§ann font til ftnna og r)an§ egin meotofu 
tjann tffi. 12 @n [00 ntorgum, fern fjann tnebtofu og a t)ann tntbtt, gjorbi l;ann fofi d ab Oerba ©ubS 60m. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Iceland lies on the confines of the polar circle, and comprises an area which exceeds 40,000 square 
miles. Its population amounted, in 1855, to 64,600. The island was first peopled ahout the year 874, 
by refugees from Norway, who fled thither to escape the tyranny of Harald Harfager, or the Fair- 
haired, king of Norway. In the course of the next half century, all the habitable parts of Iceland 
became occupied by Scandinavian settlers ; and, about 928, the inhabitants established a republic, 
which form of government subsisted till 1275, when Iceland became subject to Norway. On the 
annexation of that kingdom to Denmark, Iceland was transferred with it ; and the island is now 
governed by a stiftamtman, or governor, appointed by the king of Denmark. The established church 
in Iceland is the Lutheran, under one bishop and 300 clergy. A dialect of Norse was formerly spoken 
in the isles of Orkney and Shetland, but all vestiges of it have now disappeared. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The ancient language of the Scandinavians was planted in Iceland by the Norwegian refugees, in 
the ninth century. The insular and remote position of Iceland, and its consequent isolation from 
foreign intercourse, have caused the language to be preserved in the utmost purity; and so few are the 
changes which the lapse of time has effected in its structure, that the humblest Icelandic peasant can 
read and understand the most ancient written documents extant in the island. By means of the 
Icelandic, the connexion of the Scandinavian with the Teutonic languages is distinctly to be traced. 
The Old Danish, or Scandinavian, now the living language of Iceland, was intimately connected with 
the Gothic, Alemannic, Francic, and other cognate dialects, so that the members of these nations were 
intelligible to one another without the aid of interpreters; and in the "Young Edda," a compilation of 
the eleventh century, it is said of the Anglo-Saxons and the Icelanders, wer erum einnar tungu, " we 
are of one tongue." The aspiration of the consonants I and w is an infallible characteristic of the 
Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, and Icelandic languages: these peculiar sounds cannot be enunciated by Germans 
or Danes; and, except in the province of Dalecarlia, in Sweden, they are now no longer to be heard 
in the Scandinavian peninsula. But one of the most remarkable characteristics of the Scandinavian 
languages is the placing of the article after the noun; as an appendage to it, e.g. as above: myrkrid, 
" the darkness." 

III. — VERSIONS OE THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

No version of the Scriptures was made in Icelandic before the Reformation, although an ancient 
compendium of scriptural history, entitled the Stiorn, has sometimes been mistaken for a biblical trans- 
lation. Oddur Gotshalkson, son of a bishop of Holum, in Iceland, was the instrument chosen by God 



Class III.] ICELANDIC. 215 

to impart to his countrymen the first version of the Bible in their own language. Oddur was educated 
in Norway; and, happily for himself and for Iceland, he remained abroad till the doctrines of the 
Reformation began to excite a general sensation throughout the North of Europe. His own attention 
was forcibly arrested by the truths which were then unfolded ; and we are told that, for three successive 
nights, he prostrated himself half-naked before the Father of lights, beseeching him to open the eyes 
of his understanding, and to show him whether the principles of Eome or those of Luther were from 
heaven. The result of his prayers and meditations was a deep-rooted conviction that the cause of the 
reformer was the cause of God; and with the view of obtaining further information he repaired to 
Germany, and attended the lectures of Luther and Melanchthon. On his return to Iceland he entered 
upon a translation of the Scriptures; and, to avoid persecution, he commenced his important labours in 
a small cell in a cow-house. He completed a version of the New Testament in 1539; but finding it 
impossible, from the state of public opinion, to print it in Iceland, he sailed for Denmark, and published 
it at Copenhagen, under the patronage of Christian III. The translation was made from the Vulgate, 
except in a few passages where Oddur mistrusted that version, and where he consequently followed 
Luther. Besides the New Testament, Oddur is believed to have translated part of the Old Testament; 
but the only portion of this latter translation which he committed to the press was the 53rd chapter 
of Isaiah, printed with some short expository notes, at Copenhagen, in 1558. All his translations were 
published at his own private expense. 

In 1562, Olaf Hialteson, the first Lutheran bishop of Holum, published the Gospels and Epistles 
in the order appointed to be read in churches : this was chiefly a reprint from Oddur's version. 

In 1580, the Proverbs of Solomon and the Book of Sirach were published at Holum, translated, 
it is supposed, by Gissur Eincerson, the first Lutheran bishop of Skalholt. This version of the 
Proverbs was made from Luther's translation, except in a few passages where it follows the Vulgate. 

At length, in 1584, the entire Bible was printed in Icelandic at Holum. The work was con- 
ducted by Gudbrand Thorlakson, bishop of Holum. It is not known what share this prelate had in 
the translation ; the Old Testament was evidently executed by several hands, but the whole was revised 
and corrected by Gudbrand; and the New Testament, and such portions of the Old as had been 
translated by Oddur Gotshalkson, were adopted. The edition consisted of 1000 copies, small folio; 
the expense of which was defrayed partly by a munificent donation from Frederic II. of Denmark, 
and partly by the collection of a rix-dollar from every church in the island. This version has been 
called " a faithful mirror of Luther's German version," and, on account of the purity of its diction, it 
is still held in high estimation. Another edition of the New Testament was published at Holum, by 
Bishop Gudbrand, in 1609, "revised and corrected according to the best translations that could be 
obtained." 

A revised edition of this version was published at Holum, in 1644, by Thorlak Skuleson, the 
grandson of Gudbrand, and his successor in the episcopate. The expense was partly defrayed by 
Christian IV. of Denmark, and he directed the bishop to remodel the version according to the Danish 
translations of Besenius. But as the peculiar renderings of Resenius are only adopted in a few isolated 
passages of this revision, Dr Henderson has conjectured that the old version was rendered conformable 
chiefly to the Danish Bible published at Copenhagen in 1633, which follows Luther's version. The 
text of this Icelandic edition may be considered as exhibiting the version now in standard use. 

Another Icelandic Bible was published in 1728, under the inspection of Stein Jonson, bishop of 
Holum. He obtained from Frederick IV. of Denmark a renewal of the grants made to his predeces- 
sors, of raising a rix-dollar from every church in aid of its publication : but instead of printing the text 
of the former edition, he was enjoined to make a new translation from the Danish Bible, printed at the 
Orphan-house, Copenhagen. In complying with this injunction, the bishop followed the Danish 
version with so much servility, that his work, when complete, was found to be full of Danicisms, and 
scarcely intelligible to the Icelanders. It never obtained much circulation, and is still considered the 
worst edition of the Icelandic Bible. 



216 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

In 1747, the fourth edition of the Icelandic Bible was published at Copenhagen, and the edition 
of 1644 was adopted as the text. This was followed, in 1750, by an edition of 2000 New Testaments 
in 8vo. 

This supply of Bibles was not, however, sufficient to meet the wants of the population of Iceland ; 
and, in 1806, information was transmitted to the British and Foreign Bible Society, to the effect, that 
although the island scarcely contained one person in a hundred, above the age of twelve or fourteen, 
who could not read, yet the Scriptures were no longer to be obtained for money; and that, as the only 
press of which the Icelanders were possessed had not been used for many years, they had to resort to the 
tardy expedient of transcribing books; and, moreover, that not above forty or fifty copies of the Bible 
were to be found throughout Iceland. An edition of the Bible, consisting of 5000 copies, printed from 
the approved text of 1644, was accordingly undertaken, chiefly at the expense of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society: it was carried through the press under the direction of Justiciary Thorkelin, 
privy-keeper of the royal archives of Copenhagen, and himself a native of Iceland. The impression 
was completed at Copenhagen in 1807, and 1500 copies were immediately sent to Iceland. The 
remaining copies narrowly escaped destruction at the bombardment of Copenhagen, where they were 
preserved in the midst of a conflagration which laid almost every thing on the spot in ashes. 

In 1812, in the midst of the war between Great Britain and Denmark, permission was given to 
the Bev. Dr. Henderson to reside at Copenhagen, with every requisite .privilege, for the purpose of 
publishing another edition of the Icelandic Bible: this concession was obtained from the King of 
Denmark, through the medium of a Danish member of the Committee of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society. In the course of the year 1813, an edition of 5000 Bibles, and 5000 additional New 
Testaments, was printed at Copenhagen, under the direct superintendence of Dr. Henderson, from the 
text of 1644, or rather from the reprint of 1747. The Edinburgh Bible Society, the Fuhnen Society, 
the British and Foreign Bible Society, and some friends in Holstein, combined to defray the expenses 
of the edition. Before Dr. Henderson quitted Copenhagen in 1814, he had the satisfaction of seeing 
the formation of a society for the purpose of furnishing Iceland with adequate supplies of the Scrip- 
tures. The first efforts of the Society were directed to a thorough revision of the existing Icelandic 
text, but some time appears to have elapsed before they issued a fresh edition. In 1841, the version 
from which our specimen is taken was printed in the island, the type used being of large size, adapted 
to the use of the Icelanders, who, owing to the high latitude of their island, are for the most part 
obliged to read by lamplight. 



Class III.] DANISH. 217 



DANISH. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 
[Cheistiania, 1848.] 
3 SBegtynbelfen oar Drbet, og Drbet oar t)o3 @ub, og Drbet oar (Sub. 2 5)et oar i SSeg^nbetfen tjog @ub. 3 Qltte 
Sing ere oeb bet Mesne til ; eg uben bet er if fe enb een enefte (Sing) Weoen til (af bet), font er Meoen til. 4 3 bet oar 
£io, og Sioet oar 5D?enneffet§ £$)§. 5 Dg fityfet ffinner i 2tf0rfet, og 2J20rfet fattebe bet iffe. 6 2>er Heo et SKenneffe 
ubfenbt af ©ub ; fjan l;ebte 3of)anne§. 7 2>emte font til et 93ibne§%b, at fjan ffulbe oibne ont Styfet, paa bet at 2ltte 
ffulbe troe oeb fjant. 8 >§an oar iffe Styfet, men (font for) at r)an ffulbe oibne ont Styfet. 9 25et oar bet fanbe %y$, font 
o^ttjfer f)oert SKenneffe, ber fomnter til SSerben. 10 4?an oar i 3Serben, og 33erben er Heoen til oeb r)am, og SSerben 
fienbte fjam iffe. " -§an font til ftt (Sget, og (fjan§) (Sgne annantmebe fjant iffe. 12 2ften faa 3ftange font fjam annant= 
mebe, bent fjaoer f)an gioet SKagt at BItOe ®ub§ SBorn, bem, font troe $aa t)an3 SRaon ; 13 ^oilfe iffe ere ftfbte af Slob, 
ei filter af Jtjpbg 23iflie, ei fjefler af 2)tanb§ Siflie, men af @ub. u Og Orbet Weo Jljpb, og toebe iolanbt o§,— og oi 
faae rjang «§erligf;eb, en <§erlig1)eb, font ben @enoaarne3 af Saberen, — fulb af Sftaabe og ©anbtjeb. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The superficial area of the Danish territories, exclusive of Iceland and the Faroe Isles, has been 

stated at 21,856 square miles. The entire population, according to recent returns, was 2,468,713, 

divided as follows: — 

Denmark Proper (in 1858) . . , 1,499,850 
Duchy of Slesvig (in 1855) . 395,860 

Duchy of Holstein (in 1858) . . , 523,528 

Lauenborg (in 1858) 49,475 

Danish is the language of Denmark Proper; in Slesvig the Danish, German, and Frisic are all found; 

and in Holstein, German prevails. Danish is, likewise the vernacular tongue of the Norwegians, who, 

in 1855, numbered 1,433,488 individuals. 

Lutheranism is the established religion of the Danish states, but all others are tolerated. It has 

been computed that there are 8000 Jews in Denmark, 2330 Roman Catholics, 1600 Calvinists, 678 

Hernhutters or Moravians, and 30 members of the Anglican Church. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

We have already shown that the Norse, or Old Danish tongue, entombed among the snow and 
ice of Iceland, has been preserved almost in its pristine purity from the ninth to the present century; 
but this ancient language has in its parent country undergone so many alterations, that an Icelander 
and a Dane, speaking in their respective dialects, are utterly unintelligible to each other. So great, 
indeed, is the divergence of the modern idioms of Denmark and Sweden from the parent stem, that the 
language of the Edda has not been understood for at least four hundred years, by Swedes or Danes, 
without previous study. These modern dialects are, however, still distinguished from other branches 
of the Teutonic family by having a passive voice, and two articles, one of which is prefixed, and 
the other affixed, to nouns. In point of pronunciation the Danish is considered the softest language 
in Europe, the consonants being pronounced so softly as to be almost imperceptible. It is softer 
than Swedish; but the intonation of the Swedish language is more marked; and its features are more 
characteristic than those of its sister-dialect, the Danish. 

III. — VERSIONS OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The earliest translation of any portion of the Scriptures into Danish is contained in a MS. pre- 



218 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

served in the Royal Library of Copenhagen, supposed to have been written in the thirteenth, or 
beginning of the fourteenth, century. It is a servile imitation of the Vulgate, and defective in several 
parts; it proceeds no farther than the Second Book of Kings. In 1515, Pedersen, who is said to have 
been the first Lutheran clergyman in Zealand, published at Paris a Danish version of the Gospels and 
Epistles appointed to be read in churches: this work was reprinted at Leipsic in 1518. 

The first Danish version of the whole New Testament was made by Hans Mikkelsen, sometimes 
called John Michaelis. It was published at Leipsic in 1524, and reprinted at Antwerp in 1529. 
This version was executed by the command, and under the immediate patronage of Christian II.; "a 
monarch," says Dr. Henderson, " whose character earlier writers have depicted in the blackest colours, 
but whom posterity, though not blind to his faults, seems on the whole inclined to favour." Like 
our Henry VIII. , he seems to have been actuated less by zeal for the progress of truth than by the 
desire of freeing his kingdom from the domination and tyranny of Rome. During a rebellion in 
Denmark, he fled for safety to Holland, and it was during his state of expatriation that he promoted 
the translation and publication of the New Testament. Hans Mikkelsen, the translator, was originally 
mayor of Malmoe, in Scania, or Southern Sweden, and afterwards secretary to Christian II.; he volun- 
tarily forsook his country, his connections and interests, and accompanied his sovereign into exile. 
When compelled at length, by the resentment of the Catholics of the Netherlands, to quit his royal 
patron, he retired to Harderwick, in Guelderland, where he died about eight years after his New 
Testament had left the press. 

This version professes to be " properly translated according to the Latin;" but Dr. Henderson has 
shown that this designation in all probability applied only to the first part 'of the work, which con- 
tained the Four Gospels, and in which the Latin version of Erasmus was followed. In the Acts, and 
remainder of the New Testament, Mikkelsen has followed the German version of Luther so closely, 
that his translation is little else than a verbal transmutation of Luther's. Some writers have attempted 
to account for this circumstance by suggesting that Mikkelsen had probably commenced his translation 
before Luther's version had appeared; but that when he came to the Epistles, the first edition of 
Luther's version having then been published, he preferred the version of the faithful and intrepid 
reformer to that of the timid and indecisive Erasmus. The language in which Mikkelsen wrote is 
partly Danish and partly Swedish, resembling the dialect still spoken in his native district of Scania, 
in the south of Sweden. He has arranged the books of his New Testament in the same order as in 
that of Luther, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, and those of St. James and St. Jude, are placed 
after the rest, on account of the doubt then entertained by the reformers as to their authenticity. 

In 1528, two versions of the Danish Psalms were published: the one at Rostock (by Francis 
Wormord, originally a Carmelite friar, but who afterwards espoused the principles of the Reformation, 
and became bishop of Lund), and the other at Antwerp, by Pedersen, who has been already mentioned 
as the translator of the Gospels and Epistles of the church service. In his version of the Psalms, 
Pedersen appears to have translated both from the Hebrew text and from Jerome's translation: his 
diction is considered too paraphrastic, and too much accommodated to Christian sentiments; yet the 
style is remarkably pure for the age in which it was written, and an admirable preface on the beauty 
of the Psalms enhances the value of the work. It was reprinted in 1531, and again in 1584 and 1586 
at Copenhagen. 

In 1529, Pedersen translated and published the New Testament at Antwerp. This version was 
executed on the basis of Mikkelsen's, but it is written in a superior style; foreign words and idioms 
are excluded, and a better system of orthography is adopted. The Epistle to the Hebrews here finds 
its proper place, but the Epistle of St. James is found last in order, as in Luther's version. Pedersen, 
however, had obtained clearer views as to the real value and importance of the Epistle of St. James than 
his predecessors, for he expresses his disapprobation of the irreverent manner in which Luther and 
Mikkelsen had spoken of it. This version obtained so wide a circulation that Pedersen republished it 
at Antwerp, with the Psalms, in 1531. 



Class III.] DANISH. 219 

In 1535, some progress was made toward the production of a Danish version of the Old Testa- 
ment, by the publication of the Pentateuch at Magdeburg, translated by Hans Tausen, afterwards 
bishop of Kipen. This version was made from the Hebrew text, with constant reference to the 
Vulgate and to Luther's version: it was so well received that a second edition was printed at the same 
place in the following year. The book of Judges, translated by Peter Tideman, a clergyman of 
Zealand, was published at Copenhagen in 1539: it sometimes follows the Vulgate, and sometimes 
Luther's version. 

It was not till 1550 that the whole Bible was published in Danish. Denmark was indebted for 
this treasure to her monarch Christian III. The translation was undertaken at the suggestion of 
Bugenhagius, the celebrated reformer, who had been invited to the court of Copenhagen to assist in 
the correction of ecclesiastical abuses. The execution of the work was committed to the theological 
faculty at Copenhagen, then consisting of Peter Palladius, Olave Chrysostom, John Synning, and 
John Macchaboeus, or Macalpine. Tideman, the translator of the book of Judges, was also engaged 
in it; and Pedersen, the translator of the Psalms and of the New Testament above mentioned, was 
employed in writing out a fair copy from the several translations which were made by those appointed 
to the work. The version was made from that of Luther, and follows it closely, except in a few 
instances, in which the translators have mistaken the meaning of the German. The first edition con- 
sisted of 3000 copies of the entire Bible, and, to meet the expense, a tax of two rix-dollars was levied 
on every church in Denmark. A separate edition of the New Testament of this version in 4to. was 
published at Wittenburg, with some slight orthographical corrections. Le Long speaks of another 
translation of the New Testament having been made by Jonas Turreson, at Copenhagen, in 1584, but 
Dr. Henderson expressly states that no such translation is known in Denmark. 

A revision of the entire version was undertaken in 1586, by the command of Frederic II. That 
monarch wrote to the rector, professors, and others of the University of Copenhagen, ordering them, 
" with the assistance of three of the Copenhagen preachers, to read through the version of the Bible, 
which had been made in the reign of his royal father ; to collate it with the Hebrew text ; and where 
any defect was found, or any passage in which the true sense had not been expressed, to amend and 
correct it." The heads of the university appointed the most learned divines of the day to execute this 
important undertaking. The New Testament was revised by Nicholas Hemmingius, D.D., whose name 
is famous in the ecclesiastical history of Denmark for his attachment to the doctrines of Calvin. The 
revision of the entire Scriptures was not brought to a close till 1589, when an edition was issued in 
folio at Copenhagen, with Luther's notes. 

Two editions of the Psalms, from the version of Palladius, were published at Copenhagen in 1591 
and 1598; and, in 1599, an edition of the Psalms, in German and Danish, was published in 8vo. at 
Lubeck. Early in the following century some more extensive measures were taken for the spread of 
the divine word. An edition of the New Testament was issued at Copenhagen in 1604, printed from 
the former text, as a temporary supply; and a royal letter was, at the same time, addressed to the rector 
of the university on the subject of obtaining a more correct impression. The king, Christian IV., 
eventually appointed Dr. Kesen, bishop of Zealand, to superintend a fresh revision of the Scriptures. 
The old version was again collated with the original texts, and several European translations were con- 
sulted ; but Dr. Eesen considering the version of Luther too free and paraphrastic, fell into the opposite 
error, and followed the originals too literally, without sufficiently considering the genius and properties 
of his own language. The New Testament was published in two volumes, 18mo., in 1605: an edition 
of the Pentateuch, also in 18mo., was published the same year; and, in 1607, the entire Bible was 
completed at press in 8vo. These editions were printed at Copenhagen, at the expense of the king. 

Several editions of the Psalms succeeded the publication of Eesen's Bible; among which was one 
at Copenhagen, in 8vo., 1614, and another in 1632, at the expense of the benevolent Lady Marsvin. 

An edition of the entire Bible, printed from the revised text of 1589, was published in 1633 at 
Copenhagen; and Le Long speaks of it as "the mater of other smaller editions in 8vo., which the 



220 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

printers from that time exposed for sale." The expense of its publication was borne by means of a sum 
levied from every church in Zealand and Norway. 

In 1639, the royal permission was obtained for reprinting Eesen's Bible, the former impression 
being completely exhausted. This edition is designated " Swaning's Bible," because it was corrected 
principally by Hans S waning, archbishop of Zealand. The New Testament appeared in 1644, and 
the entire Bible, in 1647, at Copenhagen. Another edition of this Bible was also published during the 
same year, in six volumes 8vo. ; followed by several editions of the Psalms, and, in 1670, by another 
edition of the Bible in small 8vo. for common use. 

A College of Missions was established at Copenhagen in 1714, and Denmark was indebted to 
this institution for several successive editions of the Scriptures. The New Testament, from the edition 
revised by Swaning, was issued from the mission press in 1716; followed in 1717 and 1720 by 
editions of the entire Bible, also from Swaning's text. In the preface to a Bible printed by the college 
in 1722, it is stated that, in the space of six years, 22,580 copies of the New Testament and 13,784 
Bibles had been published at the mission press. In the fire which occurred at Copenhagen in 1728, 
the mission press was destroyed, and the Orphan-house then obtained the exclusive privilege of printing 
the Danish Bible ; and several editions of the New Testament and of the entire Bible were published 
by that institution between the years 1732 and 1745. In the meantime efforts were made to obtain a 
more correct and faithful edition of the Scriptures than any that had yet appeared, and a specimen of 
a revised edition was published in 1742, by the Committee of Kevision appointed by royal authority. 
In 1748, the Committee published a revised New Testament, but it is not believed that they corrected 
any portion of the Old Testament. 

About this period a specimen of a new and singular translation of the Scriptures was printed by 
Schwartz, councillor of justice to his majesty, but he does not appear to have published further portions 
of his translation. A translation of Habakkuk was given in 1752 by Monrad, a clergyman in 
Aagerup; and in 1780 a new version of the Testament was printed at Copenhagen, translated by 
Dr. Bastholm from the Greek, but marked by too servile an adherence to the idiom of the original. 
Numerous other editions of the established text were printed at Copenhagen before the formation of 
the Danish Bible Society. 

The first edition of the Danish Scriptures, undertaken by the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
was designed for the benefit of the Danish prisoners of war, of whom there were, in 1808, no less than 
2782 in this country; and also for distribution in the Danish colonies in the East and West Indies. 
This edition, which consisted of 5000 copies of the New Testament, was printed in 1810 in 12mo., 
from the Copenhagen edition of 1799; and the press was superintended by the Rev. W. F. Rosing, 
minister of the Danish church in London. A second edition of 5000 copies of the New Testament, in 
the same form, was published by the Society in 1814. In the course of the following year, another 
revision of the Bible was commenced at Copenhagen by royal authority. Bishop Munter and five 
learned professors were formed into a commission of revisal by his Danish majesty, and an edition of 
10,000 New Testaments, corrected and revised by them, left the press in 1819. A second and stereo- 
type edition, also of 10,000 copies, was printed under the authority of the king at the Orphan-house, 
about 1820. The same royal commissioners continued their labours in a similar revision of the Old 
Testament; and in the year 1824 appeared, under the same royal sanction, from the Orphan-house 
press, a 4to. edition of the whole Bible. The revised New Testament on its first appearance was 
received with general approbation, and was reported by Dr. Pinkerton and others to be " a faithful 
and excellent version." The British and Foreign Bible Society, with its accustomed liberality, 
granted several sums in aid of the publication; but this assistance was afterwards withheld, on its 
being discovered that several exceptionable renderings and marginal notes had been admitted by 
the revisors. 

The committee of the Danish Bible Society, conjointly with the committee of the Norwegian 
Bible Society in Christiania, have been engaged for several years past in the task of revising the Danish 



Class III.] DANISH. 221 

Old Testament. This work is advancing slowly under the care of Professor Hermansen. Up to the 
year 1859, the total number of copies of the Scriptures issued by the Danish Bible Society, since its 
formation in 1814, amounted to 259,983. 

Greatly increased facilities for the circulation of the Protestant Bible in the kingdom of Denmark 
have been opened within recent years, by an arrangement happily come to between the British and 
Foreign Bible Society of London and the Orphan Institution at Copenhagen, which latter body 
possesses by law the exclusive right to print the Scriptures within the Danish realm. Prior to 1855, 
all editions of the Scriptures produced at the Copenhagen press were accompanied by the Apocrypha 
and explanatory notes, and hence the Bible Society was by its rules precluded from taking any part 
in their circulation. In that year, however, at the instance of the London Society, the directors of 
the Orphan Institution agreed to produce the New Testament free from all notes and apocryphal 
references. The concession thus happily obtained was at once acted on: an edition of 10,000 Danish 
New Testaments was produced for the London Society under the auspices of the Copenhagen Orphan 
Institution, and passed into rapid circulation. A subsequent edition of 5000 has been found neces- 
sary to meet the demands made upon the Society's Agency, and is now (1859) completed. 

IV. — EDITIONS OF THE DANISH SCRIPTURES TOR NORWAY. 

Upon the incorporation of Norway with Sweden, a Norwegian Bible Society was formed at 
Christiania in 1816, under the patronage of the king of Sweden; and, aided by a grant of £500 from 
the British and Foreign Bible Society, an edition of 6000 New Testaments was printed in 1819, not 
from the revised and exceptionable edition, but from the former authorised version of the Danish 
Scriptures, which had been executed on the basis of Luther's. In 1820 farther assistance from London 
was granted to the Norwegian Society; and another edition of 10,000 copies of the New Testament, 
from the same text as the preceding, left the press at Christiania in 1823. 

Kepresentations having been laid before the British and Foreign Bible Society concerning the 
scarcity of Bibles in Norway, an edition of 5000 copies was printed in London in 1823, from the 
Christiania edition, under the editorship of the Rev. Mr. Treschow, a native of Norway. Another 
issue, consisting also of 5,000 copies, was printed in 1827, Mr. Troilius correcting the press, and 
the Kev. C. Rahm also reading the proof sheets. An edition of the entire Bible was published 
by the Society in London in 1829: it consisted of 5000 Bibles, and about 10,000 additional 
New Testaments, and was superintended by Mr. Rahm. The text selected was the authorised 
version of 1644, or rather the reprint of 1744, generally considered the most correct edition that 
had appeared. 

The British and Foreign Bible Society established an agency of its own at Christiania about the 
year 1827, for the purpose of printing and circulating the Danish Bible alone, without the addition of 
the Apocryphal Books, which the continental Societies were in the habit of binding up with the 
inspired volume. Several stereotype editions have been issued under the superintendence of this agency 
on behalf of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The total number of copies published at the 
expense of that Society, up to the end of 1859, is 50,848 Bibles, and 300,934 New Testaments, with 
10,000 Psalms. 

Similar agencies have also been established at Drontheim and at Stavanger (on the S.W. coast 
of Norway), and at each of these places the work of distribution has for some years past been 
actively carried on. The total number of issues, by the Society's agents in Norway, during the 
year ending February 1860, amounted to 25,061, a considerable increase upon previous issues. 

V. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

To the light diffused in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, by the early publication of Danish 
versions of the New Testament, may be attributed the rapid progress which was made by the 
Reformation, on its first promulgation in those countries. Concerning the result of modern efforts in 



222 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

disseminating the Danish Scriptures, much encouragement may be obtained from the reports of the 
several Societies engaged in that important work. In their annual statement (for 1847) the agency of 
Christiania write, that " almost everywhere in Norway the desire for the word of God is to a certainty 
increasing, though, perhaps, only by slow degrees." And in the same report there is the following 
account respecting Denmark: — "If I cannot," says the writer, "point out many striking instances 
here of the triumphs of the divine word over the world, sin, and infidelity, as the result of its abundant 
circulation among us, still the moral and spiritual benefits which accompany it are great and undeni- 
able; and the more the saving truths of the sacred volume are made known, the more they are 
appreciated, and its possession sought after." 

From a later report of the British and Foreign Bible Society, we learn that their Norwegian 
agents have succeeded in enlisting in their cause the good offices of the village schoolmasters, through 
whose assistance the circulation of the sacred volume throughout Norway promises to be yet farther 
increased. At Drontheim, similar gratifying testimony is offered: — "It affords us much pleasure 
(writes the Society's agent, in 1852) to be able to give you, on the whole, encouraging accounts 
respecting the progress of our work. The desire to possess the Scriptures has in many parishes been 
much increased, owing to the efforts of the clergy, and it is to be hoped that the copies thus circulated 
will produce a greater amount of blessing, as several of the pastors have, in consequence of the desire 
thus manifested, felt themselves encouraged to hold frequent meetings for reading and expounding the 
Scriptures to their parishioners, with a view of making them better understood; and, according to the 
information we had received, these meetings are well attended." 



SWEDISH. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. t. v. 1 to 14. 

[Stockholm, 1848.] 
3 fjegfynnelfen roar Drbet, ocfy Drbet roar ncir ©ubi, ocfy (Sub rear Drbet. 2 Set famma war i fiegfymtelfett 
nar ©ubi. 3 ©enom bet art) aU ting gjorb, ocfy bet forutan ax intet gjorbt, bet gjorbt dr. 4 3 bet roar lifroet j 
ocfy lifroet roar menniffcrnaS IjuS : 5 Defy Tjufet Ityfer i motfret, ocfy morfret fyafroer bet icfe fjegripit. 6 Gm man 
roar fdnb af ©ubi, font fyet SofyamteS : 7 «£>an font til roittneSfcorb, pa bet fyan ffufle roittna out ijufet, at afte 
ffuQe tro genom fyonom. 8 3cfe roar fyan fijufet ; men (fyan roar fdnb) til at roittna ont Sjufet. 9 £>et roar bet 
fauna Sjufet, fyroilfet upttyfer atta ntenniffor, font f'omma i roerlben. 10 3 roerlbene roar bet, ocfy tgenom bet ar 
roerlben gjorb ; ocfy roerlben fdnbe bet icfe. u >§an font til fitt eget, ocfy fyang egne anammabe fyonom icfe. I2 SOten 
attorn bent, font fyonom anammabe, gaf fyar. ntagt at Mifroa ©ubg Barn, bent fom tro £a fyang 9canm; 13 <£roiffe 
icfe af Hob, icfe fyefler af fottslig roilja, icfe fetter af nagorS man§ roilja, utan af ©ubi fobbe dro. 14 Defy Drbet 
roarbt fott, ocfy fiobce iManb of ; ocfy roi fdgom fyang fydrtigfyet, fdfom enba ©onfenS fydrligfyet af ^abrenom, fuft 
meb nab ocfy fanning. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Sweden forms the eastern, and most important part of the Scandinavian peninsula, and includes an 
area of about 170,700 square miles, with a population (in 1855) of 3,641,600. The religion of the 
state, and of almost all the inhabitants, is Lutheran. The hierarchy consists of 1 archbishop, 11 
bishops, 70 archdeacons, and 102 provosts or deans. Although toleration is extended to all sects, there 



Class III.] SWEDISH. 223 

are not many dissenters from the national form of religion in Sweden. The Swedenborgians, the only 
distinct religious community that the country has produced, are comparatively few in number; and 
there are not more than about 2000 Eoman Catholics and 1000 Jews. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Swedes are a branch of the same family as the Danes and Norwegians, and originally spoke 
the same language; at least, the most ancient documents extant of Old Swedish are so similar in idiom 
to the coeval productions in Old Danish, that little difference can be discerned between them. Long- 
continued political separation has, however, occasioned the modern dialects of the Old Norse to differ 
considerably from each other, and now books require to be translated from one language into the 
other ; and the intonation and emphasis of the two languages is now very different. Yet it is said that 
the peasants of Norway and Sweden are able to converse together, and that their respective dialects 
do not differ much more than broad Scotch from vulgar English. The roots of words, and the rules 
of grammatical construction, are still the same in Swedish as in Danish; and both languages have been 
subjected to several alterations by the influence of the German language and literature. French words 
and forms have also been adopted in Swedish, and the only region in which the old language is spoken 
with comparative purity is in Dalecarlia, in the east of Sweden, where the Dalcarls, or Dalesmen, who 
wear a distinctive dress, still preserve traces of the manners and customs of their Gothic forefathers. 

III. — VERSIONS OE THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

A version of the Scriptures into Swedish is said to have been made in the fourteenth century by 
order of St. Brigit, or Bridget, who about the year 1344 founded the religious order called from her 
the Brigittins; but it is problematical whether such a version was really executed, for no vestiges 
whatever of it remain, and it is not even mentioned by early writers. A translation of the New 
Testament, according to Luther's German version, (the first Swedish version of which we have any 
definite account,) was undertaken by command of Gustavus Vasa in 1523, by Laurentius Andreas, 
then a priest of the church of Stengnas, but afterwards archdeacon of Upsal, and at length 
chancellor. This New Testament was printed in 1526, in folio, at Stockholm, and was after- 
wards republished in various forms. At the same time that Gustavus Vasa gave directions for the 
translation of this New Testament from Luther's version, he enjoined John Gothus, archbishop of 
Upsal, to prepare another version accommodated to the tenets of the Church of Eome, in order that by 
a careful comparison of both translations with the original, an easier access might be opened to the 
truth. The archbishop, not daring to resist the royal mandate, employed some of his clergy to pre- 
pare this translation; but, to evade its publication, he secretly left the kingdom, and died in 1544 at 
Rome; so that although the New Testament is said to have been actually translated on this occasion, 
chiefly by a Catholic doctor named Benedict, yet no portion of the work was printed. 

The first Swedish version of the entire Bible was published at Upsal in 1541, with the Apo- 
crypha. The Old Testament was translated by Laurentius and Olaus Petri from Luther's German 
version of 1534, and the New Testament was that of Laurentius Andreas, printed, as we have seen, in 
1526. Another version of the New Testament, prepared by Amund Laurent, was published at Stock- 
holm in 1550, and again in 1605 and 1621; and in the course of subsequent years several editions of 
the Psalms were printed. But unless the Bible of 1541 was reprinted at Upsal in 1576, which seems 
very doubtful, Sweden remained for about seventy years without a second edition of the entire 
Scriptures. At length however, in the commencement of the seventeenth century, Charles IX. 
ordered Jonas Petri, bishop of Strengnes, and other learned men, to collate Luther's editions of 1534 
and 1545, noting such discrepancies as appeared to them of any importance, with the view of pro- 
ducing an improved edition of the Swedish translation. These notes, when completed, were called 
the "observations of Strengnes;" and it was decreed in the synod of Stockholm in 1602, that they 
should be incorporated with the old version in a new edition of the Bible. The edition, however, 



224 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

from various causes, did not make its appearance till 1617, when it was printed in folio at Stockholm. 
This edition was carried through the press by John Reidbeck and John Lenceus, who were ordered to 
retain the text of the former edition, (which followed Luther's of 1535,) but to correct its numerous 
typographical errors, and to add summaries to the chapters, parallel references, brief annotations, and 
necessary indexes. In 1622 not a copy of this edition remained on sale, and a reprint was, therefore, 
issued in quarto at Lubeck, followed by several successive editions in 8vo. (but without the summaries 
and notes) at Leyden; and by two editions in 1636 and 1646 at Stockholm. In 1650, the Strengnes 
Bible was printed in 4to. under the care of Bishop Matthia; but, through the carelessness of the 
printers, whole verses were omitted in this impression. Several editions of the entire Bible, in folio, 
quarto, and octavo, were published in 1655 and subsequent years at Stockholm, professedly from the 
edition of 1618, but with many deviations from that text. 

In 1671 the Four Gospels in the Sueo-Gothic, or vulgar Swedish dialect, translated by George 
Stiernhielm, appeared in a polyglot containing the Gospels of Ulphilas, the Norse or Icelandic Gospels, 
and the Vulgate. 

A revised edition of the entire Bible was undertaken under the reign of Charles XII., and the 
execution of the work was committed to Eric Benzel, bishop of Strengnes, and afterwards archbishop 
of Upsal, assisted by Nicholas Berg and other learned men. Former editions were collated, and the 
marginal notes were revised for this edition; but variations from the text of 1618 were very sparingly 
admitted, except when they appeared more conformable to the originals and to Luther's German 
version. It was printed in 1703, in folio, at Stockholm, and is considered a superior edition. 

Another revised edition of the Bible appeared in 1709, in 4to., at the same place. The prepara- 
tion for this edition was begun by John Gezel, bishop of Abo, who collated it with the Greek and 
Hebrew texts; but he died in 1690, and the work was completed and published by his son. It 
is accompanied with the prefaces and notes of Luther, a portrait of Charles XII., and a chronological 
index. So many editions of the Swedish Scriptures appeared in the course of the eighteenth century, 
that the country was generally considered to be well supplied with Bibles; and it was not till the year 
1808, when Dr. Paterson visited Sweden, that the real facts of the case were ascertained; and it was 
then found that the poorer inhabitants were almost destitute of the word of God, and that the high 
price of Bibles placed them beyond the reach of the humbler classes. This discovery led to the 
formation of the Evangelical Society, by which several editions for the poor were issued, aided by 
grants from the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Swedish Bible Society was formed in 1815, 
and, with its numerous auxiliary Societies, still continues the important work of printing and dis- 
seminating the Scriptures. It received much assistance from the British and Foreign Bible Society 
until the year 1826, when the decision of the Apocryphal question in London severed the connexion 
between the two Societies. 

In order to maintain the circulation of Bibles in Sweden without the Apocrypha, several editions 
of the Old and New Testaments have been issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society. Their 
first edition, which was stereotyped, was published in 1828, under the superintendence of the Rev. 
J. P. Wahlin, chaplain to the Swedish Embassy in London. The text adopted was that of the last 
edition of the Swedish Bible Society. Several editions from the same text have since been printed 
by the same Society in London, and likewise at Stockholm, through the medium of their Agency 
maintained there. 

The total number of copies of the Swedish Scriptures issued by the British and Foreign Bible 
Society and the Swedish Bible Society, up to the beginning of 1860, amounted to above 1,660,000; 
of which 212,238 Bibles, and 684,236 Testaments, were from the Agency of the British Society. 
Separate editions of the Testament and Psalms, to the number of 128,202 copies, besides 480 copies 
of the Gospel of St. Luke, printed in embossed characters for the blind, have likewise been issued by 
the same Society. 



Class III.] SWEDISH. 225 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

Several signal instances of the blessing of God accompanying the perusal of this version have 
been manifested in individual cases. A colporteur, writing in 1846, speaks of a family whom he 
visited during one of his journeys, and found in great affliction: he passed a night at their house, and 
exhorted them to read the Scriptures; he continues his statement as follows: — " I did not see these 
people again before the month of March this year, when I happened to travel that way, and called 
upon them. How gloriously had all been changed with them ! From their formerly gloomy counte- 
nances, the peace of the Lord was now shining forth, which reigned within their hearts by faith in the 
Saviour, whom they had found revealed in the Scriptures ; and they were unable sufficiently to express 
their gratitude to the Lord, who had sent the stranger to them, in order to show them the precious 
treasure which they possessed in the Bible without knowing it. They could not comprehend their 
former blindness, which had not allowed them to understand that which was now as clear as the 
sun to them. The sick woman had received health for her soul, and this had such an influence upon 
her body, that she was able to be out of bed the greater part of the day, and could work at her distaff. 
But the good which proceeded from the great change went still farther. Their manservant, who had 
formerly been a thoughtless youth, came to an earnest consideration of the welfare of his soul. Their 
nearest neighbour, a pedlar, had been a rude mocker at all that is holy; but he was persuaded to read 
the Scriptures, and he soon became convinced of his lost condition, and discontinued his profane life. 
Xow the neighbours called upon each other by turns, in order to read the Bible with humble prayer 
to the Lord, and 'to edify one another by psalms and hymns and spiritual songs;' for even our 
pedlar had found the pearl of great price, which he valued more than all his other riches. This man 
now commenced to read from the Bible for his family every morning and evening; and his wife and 
both his servants, with repenting hearts, became convinced of the saving grace that is in Jesus. This 
person exercised likewise a blessed influence upon the souls of others, and became much esteemed by 
all on account of his mild and christianlike deportment. He died recently ; and his last words were, 
' Glory to the Lord ! I have gained the victory for the sake of the blood of the Lamb.' " 

Many instances of a similar kind to the above are to be found in the recent reports of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society. Few parts of Europe, if any, present such indubitable evidences of 
real spiritual improvement. The desire for the Scriptures is evidently on the increase. The Bible 
readings, gatherings of small companies for the express object of reading the Word of God, and 
conversing on its contents, are multiplying in all parts of the country, and each attendant feels it necessary 
to be furnished with his own copy of the Sacred Volume. 



10 



226 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 



FAEOESE. 

SPECIMEN, FKOM St. MATTHEW, Chai". v. v. 1 to 13. 

SBen taci=ui t)an faae Sfolfje, gjaef t)an up aa ait 93j0rg; o taa=ui l)an Par febfhtr, gingu ©ifciplar tyanfara 
tit fycmS. 2 D han (edb up SMutm fuin, larbl tair, o feje : 3 @aait eru tei faatafu ui Qlanfcini, tfjui •&immerigj,i§ 
Otuigje er taira. 4 ©aatt eru tei, fum ftrgia, trjui tei fhiflu fyugfbeataft. 5 @aali eru tei ©agtntoniu, tfjui tei 
ffuCu arPa Stfritta. 6 (Saali eru tei, ui l;urtgra o tifta ettur 3ftattelit)aib, tf)ui tei ffullu maettaft. 7 ©aali eru 
tei SBarmtyartiu, tfyui tei ffuttu njoiiba SSarmf)iartit)aib. 8 @aa(i eru tei reiuu edo >§jartanun, tfjui tei fhtflu 
fubja ©ub. 9 ©aali eru tei oMaliu, tf)ut tei f fuflu fablaft ©ub§ SB^bn. 10 @aalt eru tei, [urn luja 8xrft(gji(fe 
ftri 9tattelu)aib§ <Sf"j,i(b, tl;ui taira er <£>immertgji§ 3fhtigj;e. u ©aalijir eru Sib, urn tei fpotta o forftlgja Sifurt, 
o teata ui 0blun Subun ibta urn Sifun ftri mutna ©fjilb, o ligya ted. 12 ©laejj o friji Sif'un, tfjui &0n Sitara 
(fedl paera ruigjit ui •£imutrtun ; tfyui fo tytoa. tei forfifgt *Jk6pf)etarnar, fum pouru ftri Sifun. ,3 Sib eru 
Sprina <Satt j men qoiSut ©altt miffur SDijtna, Pi qujzsrjun ffedf ted faltaji ? Sea biur til onfje 2(nna, enn a 
Bledgaft fib, o traffaft unbur Solfa Soubun. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Faroe or Feroe Islands belong to Denmark, and lie in the Northern Ocean, between the 
Shetland Isles and Iceland. They are twenty-two in number, but only seventeen are inhabited. 
Their total area amounts to 495 square miles, and the population is about 7000. 

The islanders are of Scandinavian origin, and speak a dialect of the Old Norse, or Icelandic 
language. All mercantile, judicial, and ecclesiastical affairs are carried on in Danish, but the natives 
employ their own dialect as the common medium of colloquial intercourse. 

II. — VERSION OF THE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW IN THIS DIALECT. 

About the year 1817, the Rev. Mr. Schrceter, rector of one of the chur-ches in the Faroe Isles, 
offered to produce a translation of the New Testament into the Farb'ese dialect, provided that the 
directors of the Danish Bible Society would undertake to print an edition. He urged, among other 
reasons for engaging in this work, that the islanders are so situated that they cannot attend their 
churches more than from four to six times a year; and that most of them, especially the younger part 
of the community, are so little acquainted with Danish, that they are unable to read the Danish 
Bible. The Gospel of St. Matthew was accordingly prepared by Mr. Schrceter, but as there was some 
difficulty in writing in a dialect in which neither grammars nor even printed books existed, the publi- 
cation was delayed, in order that greater accuracy might be ensured. The Danish Committee at length 
found a learned pastor in Jutland, the Rev. Mr. Lyngbye, who during his botanical rambles in the 
Faroe Isles had acquired a familiar acquaintance with the dialect. He was employed to correct the 
press, and under his superintendence 1500 copies of St. Matthew's Gospel were printed in Faroese, at 
Randers in Jutland, without any assistance from the British and Foreign Bible Society apart from the 
grants made for the general purposes of the Danish Society. It does not appear that any other books 
of the New Testament have been printed, or even translated into Faroese. 



CLASS ni-IJOO-ETJBOPEAN LANGUAGES. 

E. CR£CO-LATIN FAMILY. 



ANCIENT GEEEK. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

'EN dpyfl V v ° Xbyos, fcal 6 A.0709 rjv Trpbs rbv Qeov, Kal ®eo? r)v 6 X070?. 2 Ovtos r)v ev dp^fj 7rpo? rbv 
Qeov. 3 Udvra St' avrov iyevero' Kal %&>/ot? avrov iyevero ovSe ev b yeyovev. 4 'Ev avra> ^corj r)v, kcli r) 
far) r)v to <£&>9 tcov dvQpunrwv. 5 Kal to (£«9 iv rfj a/coTta (palvei, Kal r) gkotio, avrb ov KareXafiev. 
6 'Eyevero av8pco7ro<; direaraXfjuevo^ rvapd Qeov' ovofia avrS 'Icodvvr/^. 7 05to? r)X9ev eh puaprvptav, 
i'va [xaprvprjcrri irepl tov (jjcorbs, iva irdvre^ rno-revaojo-i oY avrov. 8 Ouk r)v eicelvos to <£o>9, dXX' 'iva 
fj,aprvprjarj rrepl tov (fiooros. 9 'Hv to ^>w? to dXrjdivbv, b (pcori^ei ixdvra avBpwuov ipyopuevov eh tov 
koo-jaov. 10 'Ev ra KOcrpKp r\v, Kal 6 koo-/jlo<? oV avrov iyevero' real 6 Koapios airbv ovk eyvco. H Eh to, 
tSia r}X8e, Kal 01 thiol avrov ov 7rapeXa(3ov. 12 "Ocroi 8e eXa/3ov avrov, eScoKev avroh i^ovaiav reKva 
Qeov yeveaOai, to?? irio-revovcnv eh to ovopba avrov' 13 Ot ovk if; alpbdrcov, oiSe e'/c OeXrjpLaros aapKos, 
ovBe eK 6e\-qp,aTo<; avBpbs, aX)C e/c Qeov eyevvqB-qaav. 14 Kal 6 Xoyo<> aapt; iyevero' Kal ecrKrjVcoaev ev r)pZv, 
(Kal i6eao~dp,e6a rrjv So^av avrov, Zb^av 0)9 piovoyevovs rrapd iraTpbs,) TrXrjprjs ydpiro^ Kal dXr]6eia<;. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT. 

At the time of the first preaching of Christianity, the more civilised nations of the Koman empire 
(however dissimilar their respective vernacular tongues) were united by the bond of a common language, 
which to them was almost the only known medium of poetry, learning, and philosophy. That language 
was the Greek. In certain countries, as in Greece itself, in Egypt, and, as some say, in Syria, it was 
used in the common affairs of life ; but everywhere it was the language of literature, and as such held 
the same position that was occupied by Latin during the middle ages. The conquests of Alexander 
the Great had been the primary cause, under Providence, of the wide diffusion of this language; and 
although the Grecian empire was afterwards supplanted by the Eoman, yet the civilisation, the arts, 
and the language of Greece long remained predominant. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The ancient Greek language was divided into four principal dialects — the Attic, which was the 
purest, the Ionic, the Doric, and the ^Eolic, spoken originally in those colonies on the coast of Asia 
Minor — distinguished from each other by varieties of orthography and pronunciation. When, under 
Philip of Macedon, the Grecian republics lost their freedom, and became more or less united under one 
government, the various dialects were gradually amalgamated into one. The language which thus 
sprang from this intermixture of dialects differed materially from that of books, as preserved in the 



/ 

228 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

writings of the early poets and philosophers. It became current however wherever the Greek language 
was spoken ; it was even used by the later writers ; and, on account of its wide diffusion, received the 
name of kolvtj StaA,e«:To?, the common dialect. The Septuagint version was written in this dialect, and 
it was also selected by Divine Providence as the appropriate medium of communicating to man the new 
covenant in Christ Jesus. It is characterised by the promiscuous employment of forms originally 
peculiar to one dialect; Attic, Ionic, and Doric words are indiscriminately used, and often placed in 
juxtaposition with words of foreign origin. Planck has observed, that in the New Testament there 
are, in the flexion of nouns, no traces of any of the ancient dialects except the Attic, but that in the 
flexion of verbs there is more variety, the Attic furnishing most examples, and the Doric affording 
others, while many of the forms are exclusively to be met with in the latter idiom. The influence of 
Hebrew characteristics is likewise to be traced in the New Testament, in several passages the phrase- 
ology being Hebrew, while the words are Greek. This is more especially observable in the frequent 
use of a double substantive (arising from the paucity of adjectives in Hebrew), and in the use of the 
words of God as indicative of the superlative degree. The Greek alphabet is a modification of the 
Phoenician, and it is to the adoption of this alphabet, which is but ill-adapted to express any sounds 
except those of Shemitic origin, that many of the anomalies of the Greek language are to be attributed. 

III. — CODICES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

There seems every reason to believe that the whole of the New Testament was originally com- 
municated by the Holy Spirit to the inspired penmen in the Greek language. Some indeed have 
asserted, that the Gospel according to St. Matthew and the Epistle to the Hebrews were originally 
written in Hebrew, and at a subsequent period transferred into Greek; but the data on which this 
opinion is founded are by no means conclusive. 1 It is generally thought that the autographs of the 
evangelists and apostles were not preserved beyond the commencement of the third century, even if 
they remained in existence so long; but, prior to that period, many copies of the sacred writings had 
been made and dispersed among the infant churches. The most ancient copies appear generally to 
have been made on Egyptian papyrus, a very perishable material, so that none of these have been trans- 
mitted to us. As early as the fourth century we find vellum in common use for writing; and, in the 
eleventh century, paper made of cotton, wool, or linen, was adopted. The oldest MSS. have no 
divisions of words, and no accents, and are all written in capital, or, as they were formerly called, 
uncial letters. The earliest MS. written in letters of the present cursive form bears the date 890, but 
even after this period the old uncial characters were sometimes used on account of their beautiful 
regularity. 

Although the Scriptures were given in the first instance by the immediate inspiration of God, yet 
no supernatural power was communicated to those who transcribed them. The multiplication of copies 
was conducted on the same principle as that of other books which have been transmitted from ancient 
times. The MSS. of the New Testament are not, therefore, free from the errors of copyists; but as it 
is not likely, or even possible, that copies executed by different persons, and from different exemplars, 
should all contain precisely the same errors, it seems reasonable to believe that, by the careful comparison 
of copies, one copy can be used to correct another, and the purity of the original text be thus in a 
great measure restored. An error in an ancient exemplar would be perpetuated in all copies and 
versions made from it; and it is probably owing to this cause that a sort of family resemblance is to be 
traced in copies, certain MSS. indicating, by peculiar or faulty readings, the age and country of the 
exemplar to which they owe their origin. This circumstance has led to the classification of MSS. 

1 Upon this point, however, the student may be usefully referred to a paper " On the Original Language of St. 
Matthew's Gospel," by Dr. S. P. Tregelles (London, Bagster and Sons, 1850), reprinted from the Journal of Sacred 
Literature, No. 9, and in which the subject is discussed with much learning and ability. The opinion of the 
Hebrew original of St. Matthew's Gospel was, as the author shows, universally entertained by the Christian Church 
for the long term of fourteen hundred years subsequent to the close of the first century. 



Class III.] ANCIENT GREEK. 229 

Griesbach has divided all MSS. of the New Testament into the following classes, generally termed 
families, editions, or recensions: — 

I. The Alexandrian recension, so called because it emanated from Alexandria: it is quoted by 

Clement of Alexandria, by Origen, Eusebius, and other Greek fathers. The Coptic 
version agrees wholly with it, and the Ethiopic and Armenian versions coincide with it 
in part. 

II. The Western recension, used in countries where the Latin language was spoken, and with 

which the Latin versions coincide. The Sahidic and Jerusalem Syriac versions also agree 
with it: Tertullian, Cyprian, Ambrose, Augustine, and other Latin fathers, quote it. 

III. The Constantinopolitan recension, to which the mass of modern MSS. and the Moscow codices 

of St. Paul's epistles are referable. Quotations from this recension appear in the works 

of the fathers who lived from the end of the fourth till the sixth century, in Greece, 

Asia Minor, and the neighbouring provinces. The Gothic and Sclavonic versions 

coincide with it. 

The classification of MSS. is, however, a very intricate subject, the classes being so blended that 

it is difficult to separate them; and, besides, the discrepancies are so trifling, being chiefly of an 

orthographical nature, that in many cases it is not easy to determine to which class a given MS. may 

belong. Hence various systems of classification have been proposed by different writers : some affirm 

that there are four distinct classes, and others that there are only two. According to the system of 

Scholz, MSS. are divisible into the Alexandrian or African (including the first two classes of Griesbach), 

and the Constantinopolitan or Asiatic. 

Individual MSS. are conventionally distinguished from each other by one of the letters of the 
alphabet being affixed to each. These marks do not point out the relative antiquity or value of the 
MSS., but seem to have been applied in the first instance in a very arbitrary manner, and to have been 
afterwards retained for the sake of convenience. The most ancient and valuable MSS. which have been 
handed down to us are the following: — 

Codex A, sometimes called the Alexandrine MS., having in all probability been written at 
Alexandria, whence it was certainly brought. It is commonly referred to the fifth 
century. It contains the Old Testament in three volumes, and the New Testament in 
one volume : appended to the latter is the First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, 
and a fragment of the Second. This MS. was presented by Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch 
of Alexandria and afterwards of Constantinople, to Charles I. of England, in 1628, and 
it is now in the British Museum. A facsimile edition of the New Testament was 
published at the expense of the University of Oxford in 1726, under the editorship of 
Dr. Woide: the Old Testament was afterwards edited by the Rev. H. H. Baber. 
Codex B, generally termed the Vatican MS., because it belongs to that library, marked 1209. 
It is one of the most ancient MSS. extant, being ascribed to the middle of the fourth 
century. It contains both the Old and New Testaments, but the book of Revelation has 
been added to it by a modern hand. It wants the end of the Epistle to the Hebrew?, 
and those to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. The Old Testament was printed from this 
MS. in 1587 by order of Sixtus V., and a translation of the New Testament has been 
given by Granville Penn. 

Another MS., also marked B, and therefore sometimes confounded with the preceding, 
is in the Vatican Library. It is supposed to belong to the seventh century, and contains 
the Apocalypse, with the Homilies of Basil and Gregory of Nyssa: a facsimile of it is 
given in Bianchini's Evangeliarium Quadruplex. The text has been published by 
Tischendorf. 
Codex C, also called Codex Ephraemi, and sometimes Codex Regius, because preserved in the 



230 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass III. 

Royal Library of Paris. This valuable MS., which originally contained the whole of the 

New Testament, and the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, was written in 

Egypt, about the sixth century, but was erased in the thirteenth century to make room for 

the works of Epbraem the Syrian, which were written over it. By means of chemical 

applications, however, the original text has been in a great measure restored. Wetstein 

succeeded in deciphering and collating it; and, in 1843, a splendid facsimile edition, 

with prolegomena, was published by Tischendorf. 

CODEX D, also known as Codex Cantabrigiensis or Bezce, because presented in 158 1 to the University 

of Cambridge by Beza. It had for years previously lain neglected in the monastery of 

St. Irenseus at Lyons, whence Beza had procured it. It contains the Gospels and Acts 

with a Latin version. It belongs probably to the seventh century, but to what country 

is uncertain. A beautiful facsimile edition was published by Dr. Kipling at Cambridge, 

in 1793. 

Codex D, or Codex Claromontanus, probably marked D, because erroneously believed by Dr. Mill 

and other critics to form the second part of the preceding. It is a Greek and Latin 

copy of St. Paul's Epistles, and is called Codex Claromontanus because procured from 

Clermont in France by Beza. It belongs either to the seventh or eighth century. It 

is preserved in the Royal Library at Paris. In the beginning of the eighteenth century, 

certain sheets were cut out of it by a thief, and sold in England, but they were restored 

to the library by Lord Oxford in 1729. 

Codex Zacynthius (H), a palimpsest MS. discovered in Zante in 1820 by the late General 

Macaulay, contains a considerable portion of the Gospel by St. Luke. It is in the 

Library of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Committee granted the use of 

it for collation and transcription to Dr. Tregelles, who says, " 1 do not know of any MS. 

of equal antiquity accompanied by a Catena; in many respects this most valuable 

palimpsest is worthy of special attention: it is remarkable that it had remained in this 

country for nearly forty years unread and unused." It is printed with the Alexandrian 

types lent by the Trustees of the British Museum, and published by Messrs. Bagster. 

Facsimiles of several other MSS have been published, but the bare enumeration of all the MSS. 

of the New Testament would be impossible within our limits. The number of MSS. known to have 

been collated in whole or in part amounts, according to Scholz, to 674. By far the greater number of 

these MSS. contain only the four Gospels, this portion of Scripture having been most constantly in 

demand, because most frequently used in the public service of the church. Ancient copies of the 

entire New Testament are extremely rare. MSS. Lectionaria, which contain the detached portions of 

the Testament appointed to be read in churches, are by no means uncommon. Copies of the book of 

Revelation are remarkably scarce: there are in fact but three ancient MSS. in which this book is to be 

found, namely Codex A, one of the Codices marked B, and Codex C. Of these, Codex C is the most 

valuable, but it is unfortunately very defective, about nine chapters being missing; so that Codex B, 

the text of which has been lately published by Tischendorf, and Codex A (the Alexandrine MS.) are 

the only ancient exemplars to which we are indebted for our acquaintance with the whole of the 

New Testament in the original. 

IV. — PRINTED EDITIONS OF THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 

Six chapters of the Gospel of St. John were printed at Venice as early as 1504, by Aldus Manutius, 
and the whole of that Gospel was printed at Tubingen in Suabia, the modern kingdom of Wurtemberg, 
in 1512. But these editions are interesting only as literary curiosities, for though they constituted 
the first portion of the Greek Testament ever committed to the press, yet they exercised no influence 
whatever on succeeding editions. 

The earliest printed edition of the entire New Testament is contained in the Complutcnsian 



Class III.] ANCIENT GREEK, 231 

Polyglot, a work we have already mentioned in our account of the Hebrew Scriptures. The MSS. used 
for this impression were most probably, as it is stated in the prologue, furnished for the purpose by 
Pope Leo X. from the Vatican Library. There is abundant internal evidence to prove that these MSS. 
were of no great antiquity, for the text agrees with MSS. written in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and 
fifteenth centuries in all passages wherein they differ from ancient exemplars. 

The earliest published edition of the Greek Testament was that of Erasmus, which appeared at 
Basle in 1516; whereas the Complutensian text, although printed in 1514, was not published till 1520. 
Erasmus prepared the text from four MSS., the most ancient of which belonged to the tenth century, 
and contained all the New Testament except the Apocalypse. His other three MSS. consisted of a copy 
of the Gospels, written, according to Wetstein, in the fifteenth century; a copy of the Acts and Epistles 
of rather earlier date, and a document containing the book of Revelation, which he asserted was almost 
apostolic in age: but as the text in this MS. was accompanied with the Commentary of Arethas, who 
lived at least 900 years after the time of the apostles, its antiquity seems very doubtful. It belonged 
originally to Reuchlin, but after its publication by Erasmus it seems to have disappeared, and no one 
knows what has become of it. Th;> other three MSS. used by Erasmus are still preserved at Basle. 
In addition to these MSS., he seems to have possessed no other critical apparatus except the Latin 
Vulgate, and a commentary of Theophylact containing part of the Greek text: but this Theophylact 
was the last of the Greek fathers: he lived at the end of the eleventh century, and his testimony is 
therefore of little weight as compared with that of the early fathers. Erasmus professed, indeed, to 
have consulted Origen, Chrysostom, and Cyril; but he could only have seen the Latin versions of their 
writings, as no edition of their original texts had then been issued from the press. He employed but 
nine months and a half in the preparation and printing of his first edition, although it comprised 
copious annotations and a Latin version printed in parallel columns with the Greek. Indications of 
this undue haste are clearly perceptible in many places, and it is nearly certain that in several passages 
where his MSS. were illegible, he supplied the defects by words of his own translation from the 
Vulgate. This is especially the case with the concluding six verses of the Book of Revelation, which 
are well known to have been wanting in Reuchlin's MS. 

The second edition of the Greek Testament was published by Erasmus three years after the first, 
and, according to Mill, it contains no less than 400 corrections. His third edition appeared in 1522, 
and he then inserted the text 1 John v. 7, which he had rejected in his first two editions because it 
was wanting in the MSS. he had originally employed. This alteration was made on the authority of 
a MS. now in Dublin. The first English version from the Greek was made by Tyndale from this third 
edition. A copy of the Complutensian text was not seen by Erasmus till after the year 1522, but his 
fourth and fifth editions, which appeared in 1527 and 1535, contain many alterations made in con- 
formity to it. Dr. Mill states that in these editions there are ninety corrections from the Complutensian 
text in the book of Revelation, and twenty-six only in all the other books. These editions are of 
especial importance, as they form the basis of all subsequent editions, and contain, substantially, the 
Greek text in general use at the present day. 

During the nineteen years which elapsed between the publication of the first and last editions of 
Erasmus, nine or ten other New Testaments were printed; but they were all taken from one or other 
of the editions of Erasmus, except that by Colinseus, which was printed at Paris in 1534. Colinaaus 
drew his text partly from those of Erasmus, partly from the Complutensian, and partly from MSS. 
which he collated for the purpose. Three of these MSS. are preserved at Paris. This edition is 
particularly correct and valuable, but it met with undeserved neglect, and being shortly after its 
appearance eclipsed by the more popular editions of Stephens, it had no share whatever in the for- 
mation of the received text. 

The four editions of Robert Stephens (the step-son of Colinceus) appeared in 1546, 1549, 1550, 
and 1551: his son published a fifth edition in 1569. These editions are more celebrated for their 
typographical neatness than for their critical excellence: the text is drawn partly from Erasmus, and 



232 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

partly from the Complutensian; and even the third, or folio, edition, which was alleged by Stephens 
to have been formed on the authority of ancient MSS., was found, on subsequent examination, to be 
little more than a mere reprint of Erasmus's fifth edition, with marginal readings from about sixteen 
MSS/ The verses into which the New Testament is divided were invented by Stephens, and first 
appeared in his edition of 1551. 

The third edition of Stephens was reprinted by Beza, in 1565, with about fifty emendations. 
It is rather surprising that Beza did not introduce farther improvements in the text, as he had the 
advantage of possessing two valuable MSS., the Codex Beza? and the Codex Claromontanus above 
described, besides the Syriac version, then lately published with a very close Latin translation by 
Tremellius : but Beza employed these critical materials almost exclusively in drawing up the polemical 
disquisitions which he inserted in the notes of his editions. Like Stephens, he was a native of France, 
and a Protestant; and being persecuted on account of his religion, he fled to Geneva, where, between 
the years 1565 and 1598, he published five editions of his Testament. All these editions are accom- 
panied by the Latin Vulgate, and a Latin version executed by himself. The best reprint of Beza's 
Greek text is generally considered to be the edition which appeared at Cambridge in 1642, with the 
notes of Joachim Camerarius. 

In 1624, the first of the celebrated Elzevir editions was published by the Elzevirs, printers at 
Leyden. The editor is unknown; but it is evident he had little recourse to MS. authorities, the 
text, like that of Beza, being founded on the third edition of Stephens. This text, however, obtained 
so much celebrity, that it became commonly known as the textus receptus ; and for upwards of a 
century it was (with few exceptions) reprinted in every successive edition of the New Testament. 
Among the most noted of the editions formed from this text, may be mentioned those published by 
Curcelkeus, at Amsterdam, in 1658, 1675, 1685, and 1699: these editions contain a collection of 
parallel passages, and the greatest number of vai-ious readings to be found in any edition of the 
New Testament prior to that in the sixth volume of Walton's Polyglot. Some of these readings are 
said to be unfairly quoted, without authorities, in order to favour the Socinian heresy. 

The Greek text in Walton's Polyglot is printed from the folio edition of Stephens. Dr. Fell 
published another edition, chiefly from the same text, at Oxford, in 1675; he copied the numerous 
readings of the Polyglot, to which he added collations from other sources. 

A new era in biblical criticism commences with the year 1707, when the Rev. Dr. John Mill 
published, at Oxford, his important edition of the New Testament, with 30,000 various readings and 
useful prolegomena. He selected for his text the third edition of Stephens, as reprinted in Walton's 
Polyglot, and added all the collections of readings that had then been published: he also formed new 
collations himself of original editions, and of the quotations from the New Testament which occur 
in the writings of the fathers; and he obtained extracts of MSS. that had not previously been collated. 
During thirty years he devoted himself, with increasing assiduity, to the production of this work, and 
he survived its publication but fourteen days. A re-impression of his edition was executed by Krister, 
at Rotterdam, in 1710, with the readings of twelve additional MSS. The editions of the Greek 
Testament published at present are generally, at least in this country, printed from Mill's text. 

An attempt towards a critical amendment of the text was made by Dr. Wells, in his edition of the 
New Testament, published at Oxford, in detached portions, between the years 1709 and 1719. But 
far more considerable corrections of the received text were introduced in the edition published by 
Bengel, at Tubingen, in 1734: it is however remarkable, that except in the book of Revelation, 
Bengel does not adopt one reading which is not to be met with in some of the printed editions. His 
edition is distinguished by its accuracy; he does not alter the text itself, except in the book of 
Revelation, but the relative value of the various readings is signified by the characters of the Greek 
alphabet affixed to each citation. 

The materials for the revision of the text were greatly increased in 1751-2 by the publication 
of Wetstein's edition, with its valuable prolegomena and its vast collection of readings. Wetstein 



Class III.] 



ANCIENT GREEK. 



233 



collated several MSS. himself; (in thirty-eight years he collated about eighteen MSS. of the Gospels;) 
others he examined, and the collations of others were diligently collected by him. This edition is con- 
sidered by Michaelis to be more important, in a critical point of view, than any other. The notes are 
particularly useful; for they contain copious extracts from rabbinical writers, which greatly serve to 
explain the idiom and turn of expression of the New Testament. The text is simply a reprint of the 
editio recepta of the Elzevirs. The emendations proposed by Wetstein, and indicated by him in the 
margin, were adopted by Bowyer, a learned printer in London, who inserted them in the text of his 
edition, published 1763: a second edition appeared in 1772. 

Between the years 1775 and 1777, Dr. Griesbach published his revised text of the Greek Testa- 
ment; but the second edition of this work, which was completed in 1806, is by far the most important, 
because it contains the results of collations made subsequently to the publication of the first edition. 
The first volume of this second edition was reprinted in 1796, at the expense of the then Duke of 
Grafton. All the critical materials which had been amassed by Mill, Bengel, Wetstein, Matthsei, 
Birch, and Alter, together with the results of his own extensive researches, were collected by Dr. 
Griesbacb, and applied by him to the general revision of the text. Besides the readings which he 
admitted into the text, he formed a large collection of marginal readings, to which he affixed marks to 
denote the various degrees of probability as to the genuineness of such readings. In 1805, he pub- 
lished a manual edition, exhibiting, in a compendious form, the results to which he had been led by 
his minute critical investigations. 

An edition of the various readings has been printed, together with Mill's text, in an 8vo. volume, 
by Messrs. Bagster. The advantage of these will appear from the subjoined tabular form : — 



AOYKA, xi. 1-13. 
KAI iyivero iv t<3 eivai avrov iv T07rco nvl 7rpoo~ev)(6p.evov, 
d)S iira.vcra.TO, cure tis tw p.a6r)ru>v airov rrpbs avrov Kvpie, 
Si'Sa£ov rjp.a<; rrpoo-ev-)(ea6ai, Kat9cos Kal IcocWtis e§i'Sa£e toiis 
[jLa$r]Ta,<; avrov. 2 Enre Se a^rois - Orav rrpoaev^qcrOe, Xeyere- 
Hdrep " r]p.wv" b b iv tois ovpavots," a.yiao-6rjru> to ovop.d aov 
iXBir<a ' 7) ySacnAeia crov " yei/Tit^Tco rb 6eXr]p.d crov, e cbs iv 
oipavio, /cat «ri rrys yifc." 3 Toi/ aprov 77/u.cov rbv imovo~iov St'Sou 
yjplv to K.a.6 rjp.epav. 4 Kai a<j>e<; rjplv ras d/xaprias rjjJiwv' Kal 
yap amol • d<p(ep.ev' Travrl 6(j>elXovri Tjplv koX p.r] eicreveyKTis 
ti/aSs eis rreipao-p.ov, g aXXa pvo~ai 77/i.as airo toS rrovrjpov." 

5 Kai eiTre 7rpos avrov?- Ti's e£ v/jlwv e£ei <p[\ov, Kal rropevo-erai 
7rpos avrov p.eo~ovvKTiov, Kal h elirrj' airy- 3>iAe, xpycrov (jlol j 
Tpeis aprov;, 6 'E^iSt) cpiAos ' p-ov rrapeyivero i£ bSov irpos 
fie, Kal ovk e^co o TrapaOrjo-u) airco- 7 KaKeivos eo~G)6ev airoKptdels 

Ct7TT7 - M77 fXOl K07TOUS Trapeze' 77877 Tj Ovpa. K€KXeiCTTal, Kal TO. 

TTatSta p.ov p.er ip.ov eh ttjv koittjv eicriv ov Swa/xai dvacTTas 
Sowai o~ol. 8 Aeyco vplv, el Kai ov ococrei avrco dvacrrds, Sid to 
elvai avrov </>iAov, Sid ye rr]V avatSeiav airov iyepOeh Scocrei 
atirco ocrcov ^prj^et. 9 Kdyco vp.lv Aeyar Alrelre, Kal Sodrjcrerai. 
vplv t^reire, Kal evptferere- Kpovere, Kal dvoiy^crerai" vplv. 
10 lids yap 6 alroiv Xap.jia.vei, Kal 6 £777-101/ evpicrKeL, Kal tco 
Kpovovri avoLyrjaeTai." " TtVa Se m vp.wv' tov irarepa alrrjcreL 
o uios aprov, p.rj XiOov eViScocrei avrw ; "ei Kal l\6vv, p.7] dvrl 
lx8vos o<.j)iv " eTTiSuo-ei air<2 ;" 12 *H Kai iav alrrjo-rj diov, p,rj 
€7n,8a)<T€i avr<2 crKopmov ; I3 Et ovv vp.els, TrovqpoX VTrap-^pvre^, 
oloare p dya^a So^aara'' StSovac Tots TeKVOK ip.wv, ttoo-u> p.aXXov 

6 Uarrjp, " 6 el; ovpavov, Scocret Tivevp.a ayiov tois alrovo-w 
avrov ; 



Griesbach. 
1805. 



aov i) ^3ao"tAeta 
'■ om, yei'Tjfl^TW . . . 



& om* 






P 60/xaTa dya0a. 



SCHOLZ. 

1830. 



f a^to^i.ei'. 






P So/AaTa ayaOa. 



Lachmann. 
1842. 



[w5 ev ovpav(S 
Kal €7Tt y^S.J 



a.voix^o'CTa.Lt 
1 e| v)X<Zv. 



P So/xara a.ya8a. 
1 add vfJiuiv* 



s om. 



TESCHENDORF 
1849. 



om. 

om. 
rf om. yevYi6r}T<o . 
Trjsyrjs. 



avoix^TQrai. 
avoixQijOSTaL. 

i£ VfJLWV. 

"V- 

aUTCU €7Tt5tiJO"ei. 

P 60/xaTa ayaBa. 



234 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

A revision of the Greek text, on the authority of a set of MSS. of the Byzantine family, was 
published by Matthsei, at Riga, 1782-1788: he formed his edition from the rich collection of 
Byzantine MSS. belonging to the Patriarchal Library at Moscow. Among the critical editions of the 
New Testament must also be mentioned that of Dr. Harwood, published in London, 1776, and again 
in 1784, in which the received text forms the basis, but corrected by readings from the Codex Bezie 
and the Codex Claromontanus. Alter's edition of the New Testament, published 1786-7, is merely a 
copy from a single MS., the Codex Lambecii I., in the Imperial Library at Vienna, accompanied with 
various readings from Greek MSS. in the same library, and from the Coptic, Sclavonic, and Latin 
versions. In 1781, an edition of the Four Gospels was published, with various readings from the 
Vatican and other MSS., the results of the combined labour of Professors Birch, Adler, and Molden- 
hawer, who were employed by the King of Denmark to traverse Germany, Italy, France and Spain, 
for the purpose of collating the most famous MSS. contained in those countries. This edition is 
particularly valuable, on account of the large extracts it contains from the Codex Vaticanus. In 1798, 
Birch published, at Copenhagen, a collection of various readings derived from the same sources; but 
a calamitous fire, which destroyed the printing-office, types, and paper, prevented the completion of 
the entire work. 

Another revised Greek Testament was published in 1830-36, by Dr. Scholz, of Bonn, who had 
for years been accumulating materials for this work from the principal libraries of Europe and the 
East. This edition contains a greater number of readings than any of the preceding. In the correction 
of the text, Griesbach had generally admitted the authority of the more ancient MSS.; but Scholz 
was influenced by a contrary principle, for, as the ancient MSS. are very few in number, he contended 
that their testimony is of less weight than that of the mass of more modern MSS. The text of Scholz 
has been reprinted in England; first, in 1840, in the "English Hexapla," and subsequently 
in the "Critical Greek and English New Testament:" in this latter edition, the text is accompanied 
by the readings, both textual and marginal, of Griesbach, and the variations of the principal printed 
editions. 

In 1831, a revision of the New Testament was published by Lachmann: it is conducted on the 
principle that the ancient MSS. are to be followed implicitly, even in cases where there are manifest 
errors of tamscription ; and no appeal except to Greek and Latin authorities is admitted. At the end 
of this edition there is a list (extending to 42 pages) of the discrepancies between the received text and 
that adopted by Lachmann. In the second edition of this work, the authorities on which the correc- 
tions of the text were made are given, and the Latin Vulgate is added. 

In 1841, Tischendorf published a critical edition of the Greek text, in which he partly adopted 
the readings of ancient authorities: other editions have been issued by him; among which may be 
mentioned one published at Paris, for which he appears to have searched many MSS., with the view 
of selecting such particular readings as exhibit any tendency to countenance the renderings of the 
Latin Vulgate. A new edition of his Leipsic Greek Testament appeared in 1849. 

In consequence of the paucity of the MSS. in which the Apocalypse has been transmitted to us, 
that book affords less scope for textual criticism than any other portion of the New Testament; hence 
it has been comparatively overlooked in many of the critical editions above enumerated. Erasmus, 
as we have seen, edited it upon very slender authority: and Griesbach, finding that his system of 
classification was inapplicable to this book, devoted but little critical attention to it. It was not till 
1844 that the full appliances of modern criticism were brought to bear upon this previously neglected 
portion of Holy Writ. In that year, Dr. Tregelles published a revised edition of this book. His text 
is formed entirely from ancient authorities, part of which were known but imperfectly to Griesbach 
and Scholz; and he has given a copious collection of various readings, including all that are found in 
ancient MSS., and all that have any importance in themselves, or are supported by any considerable 
number of authorities. To render the result of his critical investigations accessible to the mere English 
reader, Dr. Tregelles has added a literal English version of his amended text. 



Class III.] ANCIENT GREEK. 235 

A more important critical edition of the New Testament than any which has yet appeared is 
in course of publication. The object contemplated in this edition is no less than the restoration of the 
text commonly received among the churches during the fourth century. This is accomplished by 
means of direct reference to the most ancient MSS. extant; and in all passages where these ancient 
documents do not precisely agree, or where there is the slightest room for doubt, conflicting evidence 
on every side of the question is carefully adduced. The ancient versions are allowed a voice as to 
the insertion or non-insertion of clauses; but no word is admitted into the text which is not found 
in one or other of the most ancient MSS. The citations occurring in early writers are carefully noted ; 
and even the readings of modern MSS. are impartially stated in the margin. The received text is 
allowed no prescriptive authority whatever; and in all cases in which its readings are retained, the 
MS. authorities on which such readings rest are systematically enumerated. The works of ancient 
and modern biblical critics have been closely examined, and the errors into which many of them have 
fallen are detected and avoided in this edition, by means of a fresh and most laborious collation of 
several of the MSS. cited. The projector and editor of this work is Dr. Tregelles, the editor of the 
Apocalypse, as above mentioned. Twenty years of his life have been devoted to this undertaking, and 
it is to be hoped that the period is not far distant when this text of the pure and unadulterated word 
of God will be given to the Church. In the meantime, it is a most satisfactory reflection, that all 
that human learning has done, or can do, in the investigation of the sacred text, leads only to the 
conviction that Divine Providence has so watched over the transmission of the divine word, that 
the utmost variations of the MSS. which contain it are, after all, of comparatively little or no impor- 
tance : so that, to all intents and purposes, the most unlearned believer possesses, in the holy volume 
whence he draws his springs of hope and consolation, as true a transcript of the revealed will of God, 
as if it had been communicated to him personally and directly from heaven. 

Messrs. Bagster have published an edition of the Greek Testament in large type, for the conveni- 
ence of general use. The common text is given, with the addition of those readings which are supported 
by great authority: at the end is a collation of the texts of Griesbach, Scholz, Lachmann, and 
Tischendorf. 

V. — RESULTS OF THE PUBLICATION OF THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT. 

The first application of the art of printing to the multiplication of copies of the inspired text 
may justly be said to form an era in the history of the Church. Strong and bitter hostility was excited 
among the enemies of the truth by the first appearance of the New Testament in a printed form. 
At Cambridge, when first published by Erasmus, in 1516, it was absolutely proscribed, and the priests 
endeavoured to dissuade the students from the study of the Greek language; and Standish (afterwards 
bishop of St. Asaph) is said on one occasion to have flung himself on his knees before the king and 
queen, conjuring them, by all they accounted sacred, to go on as their ancestors had done, and put 
down Erasmus. Thomas Bilney, the martyr of 1531, was at that period a fellow of Trinity Hall. 
His eyes had been opened to the perception of his state of sinfulness by nature, and he had sought in 
vain for hope and consolation under the distress and anxiety of mind which his convictions had 
engendered. At the instigation of his ecclesiastical superiors, he had endeavoured to find relief in 
watching, fastings, and other exercises; but he soon discovered that all attempts made in his own 
strength towards the attainment of holiness of life, or purity of heart, invariably proved abortive. 
When he heard of the publication of the Greek Testament by Erasmus, in parallel columns with the 
Latin, he resolved, at any risk, to possess himself of a copy. He succeeded in obtaining one, and the 
results of its perusal were manifested to all; among other tokens, by the powerful strain of his preach- 
ing, which was used as the means of converting Hugh Latimer. Robert Barnes, and many other 
individuals. The effects of the study of this New Testament upon his own mind are best described in 
the simple eloquence of his own words: — " But at the last," says he, " I heard speak of Jesus, even 
then when the New Testament was first set forth by Erasmus. Which, when I understood to be 



235 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



[Class III. 



eloquently done by him, being allured rather for the Latin than for the word of God — for at that time 
I knew not what it meant — I bought it even by the providence of God, as I do now well understand 
and perceive. And at the first reading, as I well remember, I chanced upon this sentence of St. Paul, 
(0 most sweet and comfortable sentence to my soul!) in his first epistle to Timothy, and first chapter 
— ' It is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be embraced, that Christ Jesus came into the world to 
save sinners, of whom I am the chief and principal.' This one sentence, through God's instruction 
and inward teaching, which I did not then perceive, did so exhilarate my heart, being before wounded 
with the guilt of my sins, and being almost in despair, that immediately I felt a marvellous comfort 
and quietness, insomuch that my bruised bones leapt for joy. (Ps. li. 8.) After this the Scripture 
began to be more pleasant to me than the honey, or the honeycomb. Wherein I learned that all my 
travels, all my fasting and watching, all the redemption of masses and pardons, being done without 
truth in Christ, who alone saveth his people from their sins; these, I say, I learned to be nothing else 
but even, as Augustine saith, a hasty and swift running out of the right way; or else much like to 
the vesture made of ngleaves, wherewith Adam and Eve went about in vain to cover themselves, and 
could never before obtain quietness and rest, till they believed on the promise of God, that ' Christ the 
seed of the woman should tread upon the serpents head.' Neither could I be relieved or eased of the 
sharp stings and biting of my sins, before I was taught of God that lesson which Christ speaketh of 
in the third chapter of John — ' Even as Moses exalted the serpent in the desert, so shall the Son of 
man be exalted, that all which believe on him should not perish, but have life everlasting.' As soon 
as I began to taste and savour of this heavenly lesson, which no man can teach, but only God, which 
revealed the same unto Peter, I desired the Lord to increase my faith; and, at last, I desired nothing 
more than that I, being so comforted by him, might be strengthened by his holy Spirit and grace from 
above, that I might teach the wicked his ways, which are mercy and truth, and that the wicked might 
be converted unto Him by me, who sometime was also wicked." 



SPECIMEN OF THE SEPTUAGINT VERSION. 

Cod. Alex. 



" Kvpiu>. 
'' Tw Xeyeiv. 
( c acroi iacv.) 



] ©€0S JUOU. 



' KarefrovTicrev . 



1 add feat. 



k add koX. 



1 add -q. 



Hexaplorum 
Reliq_ui;e. 



EHOAOS, xv. 1-13. 
TOTE rjcre Mtovcnjs km. ol viol 'laparjX ttjv wSrjV Tavrrjv tu> " ©e<3, " km. etirav, 
b Xiyovre?,' c "Ao-(i)/x€v' tcj Kvpito, ev86£o)s yap SeSocfaarai- hnrov km. dva^drrjv 
eppupev els 6dXacrcrav. 2 BorjOos km. d crKeTrao-Trjs'' iyivero fioi els craiTrjpiav ovtos 
' fjiov ®eos," km. So^acfo) avrov ®eos tov Ttarpos p-ov, kcu {n]/d)cno avrov. 3 Kvpios 
o-vvTpij3u>v voXep.ovs, Kvptos 6vop.a avTiS. 4 "Apfxara Qapaib, kcu ttjv 8vvap.iv avrov 
eppiipev els OdXacrcrav, eTTiXeKrovs dva(3aTas TplcrTaVas - KaTSTroOrjcrav" ev epvOpa. 
OaXdcrcry. 5 ilovro) eKaXvipev olvtovs' KoreSvcrav els fivObv wcrel XiOos. 6 H Secfia 
crov Ktipie SeSo'^acrrai ev lcr)(yi- r) 8«£ia crov yelp Kvpie eOpavcrev e^Opovs. 7 Kat 
T(U 7rAij0ei rrjs 86£rjs crov crvveTpuj/as rovs e inrevavTiovs' " djrecrTeiXas ttjv opyrjv crov 
h " Kare<f>ayev avrovs oj? Ka.Xdp.-qv. 8 Kcu Sia irvevp.aTos tov 6vp.ov crov ' Stc'crn/' 
to iJScop- eirdyr] <Lcrei T€i^os to. vSara- hrdyr\ to. Kvp.ara ev p-ecru> ttjs OaXdcrarjs. 
'■> Ei7rev 6 e^Opos, Abulias KaraX-qxpop-ai, p.epux> ctkvXm ep.7rXr]croi \pvyrjv p.ov, dveXcJ 
tt) aavaipa p.ov, Kvpievcrei rj \eip p.ov. 10 'Aireo-TetXas to irvevp.d crov " eKaXvif/ev 
aurovs OdXaercra- eSvcrav wcrel p.oA(,/3os ev vSarc crc/>o8pa>, ' ' Tts op.oios croi ev Oeois 
YLvpie; TlS op.oios croi; t)eh)o£acrp.evos ev uyiots," 6avp.a<nbs ev 8d£ais, ttolwv Tepara. 
12 'Yi^ejeiva.s tt]V 8«cfidv crov KareTTiev avTOVs'"" yrj. 13 'Cl8r}yrjaas n rfj StKaiocrvvrj 
crov" tov Xaov crov tovtov, bv eXvTpuicrm' " irapeKaXecras'' rrj Icryyi. crov els KaraAv/xa 
dyiov crov. 

I. — THE SEPTUAGINT. 

The Septuagint is unquestionably the most ancient and the most important of all the versions of 
Scripture that have been transmitted to us. It derives its name from the now exploded story of its 



' VTrepa(Tin<nT}s, Alius. 



/Alius, ut Cod. Alex. 



8 exSpovi <rov, Alius. 

' ia-aipevSr), Aquila, Sym- 

miichus, & Theodotion. 
' ovTe ev CJvi/acTTei'at?, ovrt 

ev dytacr/uto eftcrajfliji'at 

Tts SvvrjaeTai, 7] Kara. Tt. 

yoxiv u>fjLoio>9iji'a.i, Sym- 

maehus. 
" ev to» eheet crou, Aquila 

(al. ev Tfj ekerqtxotrvvri 

u"ou). 
Ste/SacTTacra?, Symmii- 

cbua. 



Class III.] ANCIENT GREEK. 237 

having been translated by seventy or seventy-two translators, each of whom, it is said, executed a 
separate translation from the Hebrew text; and, on coming together afterwards to compare the results 
of their labour, discovered a miraculous verbal agreement between their respective productions. The 
accounts given by early writers concerning this version, when divested of fabulous and improbable 
details, afford us little or no information as to its real history beyond the mere date of its execution, 
which concurrent testimonies lead us to place somewhere about the year 285 B. C, or during the joint 
reign of Ptolemy Lagus and Philadelphus his son. This version is far more ancient than any Hebrew 
MS. now extant; and it is therefore peculiarly valuable not only as exhibiting the state of the original 
text at that early period, but also as showing the interpretation conventionally attached to the words 
of sacred writ by the Jews of that epoch. 

The Septuagint, on its first appearance, seems to have been received with comparatively little 
favour by the Jews of Palestine, but afterwards it became regarded among them as an accredited 
version of their Scriptures. The large and then rapidly increasing class of their countrymen called 
Hellenistic or Grecian Jews, from their living in cities where Greek was spoken, adopted this version 
as their own; and it was habitually used in public and private among them, from the time of its 
completion till about the close of the first century of the Christian era. The early Christians, who 
were generally ignorant of Hebrew, had recourse to this version in proving from the prophets that 
Jesus was the promised Messiah; and the Jews, being unable to meet the arguments drawn from this 
source, endeavoured to throw discredit on the version itself, by alleging that it did not agree with the 
Hebrew text. In order still further to evade the proofs that Jesus was the Christ, which in the pages 
of the Septuagint were laid open to the gaze of all nations, the Jews, in default of better arguments, 
instituted a solemn annual fast, in execration of the day in which the version was completed. 

Thus rejected by the Jews, the Septuagint became the accredited version of the professing 
Christian Church; it was uniformly cited by the Greek and Latin fathers; and from it the old Italic, 
the Armenian, the Arabic, and most of the ancient versions of the Old Testament were made. The 
Septuagint has been, moreover, honoured above all other versions, in being quoted by the inspired 
writers of the New Testament. There are in all 244 quotations from the Old Testament in the New ; 
and of these, according to Bishop Wetenhall, 147 are from the Septuagint, while 97 vary more or less 
from it. Taking ten citations from each of the four evangelists as they rise, the bishop has shown that, 
of these forty citations, twenty-two differ from the Septuagint, having been apparently translated anew 
from the Hebrew, while fourteen agree both with the Septuagint and the Hebrew; whence he draws 
the conclusion, that " the Holy Ghost did not intend, in the style of the New Testament, to canonise 
any translation by a constant and perpetual use of it." 

The dialect in which this version is written resembles that of the New Testament, but it contains 
more Hebraisms, and is even further removed from the idiom of the classical Greek writers. It is 
evident that the translators were not Palestine but Alexandrian Jews, and that they were familiar with 
the phraseology of Egypt. This is proved by the many Coptic words and terms, appertaining to 
Egyptian customs and philosophy, which appear in the translation. Thus, the Thummim of the high 
priest is in the Pentateuch rendered by the term a\.7)6ela (truth), which same word was inscribed on 
the sapphire collar worn about the neck of the chief priest in Egypt. It is equally evident from the 
style of the Septuagint, that different portions were executed by different hands, the various books of 
which it is composed being very unequal in point of execution. . The Prophetical and most of the 
Historical Books, and the Psahns, were translated by very incompetent individuals. The Pentateuch, 
the Proverbs, and the book of Job, are generally considered the portions best translated. In several 
passages of the Pentateuch, the Septuagint follows the Samaritan more closely than the Hebrew text. 
The translator of the book of Job appears to have been familiar with the language of the Greek poets, 
and though he often seems studious of elegance rather than of accuracy, yet his very faults, it has been 
remarked by Jahn, are indicative of genius. The discrepancy in point of chronology which exists 
between the Septuagint and the Hebrew text is very remarkable, and not easily to be accounted for: 



238 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

according to the Hebrew, a period of 2448 years elapsed between the creation and the giving of the 
law by Moses; whereas, in the Septuagint, this interval is represented as extending over 3953 years. 

In consequence of the numerous transcriptions of the Septuagint made by Jews and Christians, 
errors arising from the inadvertence of copyists crept into the text, and a revision was therefore under- 
taken, during the early part of the third century, by Origen, a learned father of the Church. His 
object in engaging in this recension or revision was not only to detect and remove the errors of copies, 
but by a thorough comparison of the Septuagint version with the Hebrew original, and with all other 
existing Greek versions, to form a standard of appeal for the Christians in their arguments with the 
Jews. He devoted twenty-eight years to the preparation of the work, and travelled all over the East 
in quest of materials. During the course of these travels he met with six Greek translations, namely, 
the version of Aquila, the version of Symmachus, and that of Theodotion, hereafter to be mentioned, 
and three anonymous translations. He instituted a minute comparison between these six translations, 
the Septuagint, and the Hebrew. The versions of Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and the 
Septuagint, were written by Origen in parallel columns, forming what early writers termed the 
Tetrapla ; and when he added two columns of the Hebrew text, the one in Hebrew the other in Greek 
characters, the entire work was denominated the Hexapla, by which title it is still known. Origen 
made no alterations whatever in the text of the Septuagint which he inserted in the Hexapla: 
whenever he found that text deficient in a word which occurred in the Hebrew, or in any of the other 
Greek versions, he indicated the omission, using for that purpose an asterisk (* :) and two large dots, 
placed after the word itself; when, on the other hand, he met with a word or words redundant in the 
Septuagint, he made no erasures in the text, but placed an obelus (-5- :) and two smaller dots, to show 
that the reading was wanting in the original. This great work extended to fifty volumes, and from 
its admitting in certain books fragments of other translations besides the four above enumerated, it 
has been variously denominated the " Octapla," or the " Enneapla." Fifty years after the death of 
Origen it was found at Tyre, where that great man had died, by Pamphilus and Eusebius ; and by them 
it was deposited in the famous library of Pamphilus the martyr, at Cassarea, the civil metropolis of 
Palestine. It was unfortunately consumed with that library in A. D. 653, when Cassarea was taken by 
the Saracens. But although destroyed, this laborious compilation is not altogether lost to us, for the 
column containing the Septuagint had been transcribed by Pamphilus and Eusebius, with the marks 
and annotations of Origen. Of this transcription, however, we possess no perfect copy, for the asterisks, 
obeli, and other marks, were confused and interchanged by copyists, and readings and glosses from 
later versions were added to those cited by Origen. 

Two other revisions of the Septuagint remain to be noted, both of which were executed about the 
same period as the transcription of the Hexapla text by Pamphilus and Eusebius. The principal of 
these revisions was executed by Lucian, a presbyter of Antioch, a.d. 312, who confined himself to the 
comparison of the Septuagint with the Hebrew text, without having recourse to other Greek versions. 
This recension was adopted by all the churches of the East, from Antioch to Constantinople. The 
other revision was effected by Hesychius, an Egyptian bishop, and according to Jerome, was used in 
all the churches of Egypt. 

The principal MSS. in which the Septuagint has been transmitted to us are the Vatican and 
Alexandrine codices, already described in our notice of the New Testament. The Vatican MS. is 
supposed to contain the earlier text, while the Alexandrine MS. apparently exhibits many of the 
amendments and interpolations of Origen's Hexapla; but these texts have been so often blended, that 
it is difficult to distinguish between them. 

The printed editions of the Septuagint, although very numerous, may all be considered as belong- 
ing to one or other of the four following primary or original editions: — 

I. The Complutensian edition, so called because it appeared in the Complutensian Polyglot. Much 
diversity of opinion exists as to the MSS. used for this edition. It approaches so closely 



Class III.] ANCIENT GREEK. 239 

to the Hebrew, that it is questioned whether the editors corrected the readings of their 
MSS. by comparison with the original, or whether they employed a MS. in which 
portions of Aquila's version were blended with the Septuagint text. This might be 
ascertained by examining the MSS. used, which are now at Madrid. 
II. The Aldine edition, published at Venice, at the Aldine press, in 1518. Several ancient MSS. 
were used in the formation of this text, and it is usually accounted considerably purer 
than the Complutensian; yet, according to Archbishop Usher, it follows in many 
instances the peculiar renderings of Aquila's version; by some it is thought to contain 
readings from Theodotion's version. 

III. The Roman or Vatican edition, printed in 1586, chiefly from the Vatican MS. at Eome. 

This edition was undertaken by order of Sixtus V., whence it is often called the Sixtine 
edition. It was printed under the care of Cardinal Caraffa, who with his coadjutors 
devoted nine years to its preparation and publication. In this edition the Vatican MS. 
is rarely departed from, except when, through some inadvertence of the printer, readings 
from the Aldine edition are inserted; but such instances are comparatively few. This 
text has been more frequently reprinted than any other, and may be called the textus 
receptus of the Greek Old Testament Scriptures. 

IV. The Alexandrine edition, printed at Oxford from the Alexandrine MS., between 1707 and 

1720. This edition was prepared for the press, and partly printed, under the care of 
Dr. Grabe, and after his death it was completed under the editorship of Lee and Wigan. 
The defective and incorrect passages of the Codex Alexandrinus are supplied in this 
edition, partly from the Vatican MS., and partly from the Complutensian edition; and 
these amended portions are distinguished from the rest of the text by being printed in 
smaller characters. The critical marks used by Origen are inserted, and copious pro- 
legomena were added by Dr. Grabe. A facsimile edition of the Alexandrine MS. was 
published at the public expense, under the care of the Rev. H. H. Baber, one of the 
librarians of the British Museum, between 1816 and 1827. 

Several valuable editions of the Septuagint have been published with various readings. The first 
in point of time is that published by Breitinger, at Zurich, 1730-1732: it contains Grabe's text, with 
the various readings of the Vatican edition printed at the foot of the page. In 1821, Mr. Bagster 
issued an exact reprint of the Vatican text, with the various readings of the whole Alexandrian text 
as edited by Grabe. A splendid folio edition was published at Oxford, 1818-1827, under the editorship 
of Dr. Holmes, dean of Winchester, and, after his death, of Rev. J. Parsons. The text is that of the 
Vatican edition, to which readings from all known MSS. are added, with quotations from the patristic 
writings and from ancient versions. The various readings are so numerous, that they confirm the 
general opinion, that " the text of the Septuagint is in a worse state than any other except the Latin 
Vulgate." This edition is furnished with prolegomena and other critical apparatus. Another edition 
of the Vatican text, with readings from the Alexandrine and other MSS., from the Complutensian 
and Aldine editions, and from the fragments of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, was published 
at Paris in 1839, edited by the Abbe Jager. An important edition, also from the Vatican MS., has 
been issued by Messrs. Bagster: it includes the real Septuagint version of Daniel; and in the Apocrypha, 
the fourth book of Maccabees has been added to the three found in previous reprints. 

The Septuagint has been twice translated into English. The first translation was made by 
Charles Thomson, late secretary to the Congress of the United States, and was published at Phila- 
delphia in 1808, in 4 vols. 8vo. In 1844, a close translation from the Vatican text, with the principal 
readings of the Alexandrine copy, was completed by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, and published 
in London, in 2 vols. 8vo. 



240 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

II. — GREEK VERSIONS COLLECTED BY ORIGEN. 

We have already seen that, during his travels through the East, Origen met with six Greek 
translations of the Old Testament. All the information we possess concerning these translations may 
be briefly summed up in a few words. 

The versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, appear to have been executed during the 
second century of the Christian era. The versions of Aquila and Theodotion are at least known to 
have been completed before the year A.D. 160, for Justin Martyr, who wrote about that period, refers 
to them. Aquila was a Jew born at Sinope, in Pontus. He is supposed to have embraced Christianity, 
and to have afterwards relapsed into Judaism. His object in writing this version was to assist the 
Jews in their arguments with the Christians, and he is said to have wilfully perverted many of the 
prophecies relating to the Messiah. When the Jews rejected the Septuagint, they adopted this version 
in its stead; and, in token of their approbation, distinguished it by the name of "the Hebrew Verity." 
It is a close and literal translation of the Hebrew, and is of some use in criticism, as exhibiting the 
antiquity of certain contested readings of the Masoretic text. 

The version of Symmachus (an Ebionite, or semi-christian) is less literal than that of Aquila, 
but clearer and more elegant. The version of Theodotion, who was also an Ebionite, holds a middle 
place between the literal exactness of Aquila and the freedom of Symmachus. Theodotion's version 
conforms in so many instances to the text of the Alexandrine MS., that it has sometimes been 
questioned whether his design was to produce a new translation, or simply to rectify the readings of 
the Septuagint text. 

Three other versions, less ancient than the preceding, were discovered by Origen, but their date 
and the names of their translators are unknown. They are usually distinguished by the numerals 
5, 6, and 7, applied to them in accordance with the number of the column they occupied in the great 
biblical work of Origen above described. The fifth translation contained the Pentateuch, the Psalms, 
the Canticles, the twelve minor prophets, and the books of Kings. The sixth comprised the same 
portions of the sacred volume with the exception of the books of Kings. The seventh contained only 
the Psalms and the minor prophets. 

All that now remains to us of these six translations, besides what we possess through Syriac 
channels, consists of a few fragments, preserved by means of the transcription of the Hexapla text of 
the Septuagint, made, as above stated, by Pamphilus and Eusebius, about A.D. 300. These fragments, 
with the remains of Origen's Hexapla text, -were published by Montfaucon at Paris, 1714, in 2 vols, 
folio, with preliminary disquisitions on the Hebrew text, the ancient Greek versions, and the labours 
of Origen. On account of the costliness and rarity of this work, a smaller and abridged edition was 
published at Leipsic, 1769-70, by Bahrdt. 

III.— THE GliMCA VENETA. 

This appellation is usually given to a Greek version found in a unique MS. of St. Mark's Library 
at Venice. This version is of little use in criticism: its age and author are unknown, but it is supposed 
to have been executed at Byzantium for private use, after the close of the ninth century. It is 
evidently a direct translation from the Hebrew, to which it adheres with rigid, and even slavish, 
exactitude. The style is very peculiar, at times furnishing examples of Attic elegance, yet occasionally 
admitting the grossest barbarisms. It contains the Pentateuch, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, 
Canticles, Lamentations, and Daniel. The Pentateuch was published by Amnion at Erlangen, 1790-9 1 , 
in 3 vols. 8vo. ; the other portions had previously appeared at Strasburg in 1784, under the editorship 
of Villoison. Extracts from this version are given in Holmes's edition of the Septuagint. 

iv.— TO XAMAPEITIKON. 

Certain Greek fragments, in all probability the remains of a Greek translation of the Samaritan 
Pentateuch, are generally known by this appellation. These fragments are met with in several ancient 



ClASS III.] 



MODERN GREEK. 



241 



MSS., and are referred to by the fathers of the third, fourth, and following centuries. They agree in 
a great measure with the Septuagint, but are accounted of little or no value in criticism. 



MODERN GREEK. 



SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN 
Maximtjs Caleiopolitan's Version, 1638. 
EIS ttjv apx<l v yTov 6 Aoyos" ko.1 6 Aoyos tjtov p.erd 
©eov koll ©eos tjtov o Aoyos. 2 Etovtos tjtov eis ttjv 
'ipyvp /tera ©eov. 3 °OAa [jra Trpdyfiara] Sta fxecrnv tov 
[Aoyou] iyivT]Kav, Kat ^aipts avrov Sev eytve Kaviva etTt 
eytve. 4 Eis avrbv tjtov £,wr)- ko! t) £a)r) tjtov to <£a>s 
t£>v avOpwrrwv. 5 Kat to <£a>s eis rr/v o~KOT€iav <£eyyet, 
xai r) CTKOTeia. Sev to KaTa.\af3e. 6 Eytvev eyas avOpunros 
d7reo-TaAp;evos cltto tov ©eov, to ovop.a tov uoawr/s. 
7 Etovtos r/Xdev eis fiap-rvpiav, va. fiap-rvplcrTj Sta to <£a>s 
Tnorevcrovv oAot Sta Liicrov avrov. 8 Aev ^tov eKetvos to 
<^cos, dAAa va Liaprvpicrrj Sta to <£cos. 9 Htov to (£ais 
to dWrjdivbv, to birolov (pbyrt^et. KiiOe avOpamov birov 
cp^eTai eis tov koct/xov. 10 Ets tov koctllov tjtov k.o1 6 
Kocr/j.os ota. llIctov avrov eytvev, dp/}) 6 Kocrp.os Sev tov 
eyvtoptcrev. 1! Ets to. eSiKaYov ryA^ev, /cat 01 eStKoirov 
Sev tov eSr^/iKav. 12 Kat ocrot tov Ihi^OrjKav, tovs 
eSuKev e£bvo"t'av, va yevovv 7raiSia ©eov, [-^yowl eKetvovs 
o 7rov 7rio~Tevovv ets to ovo/xa tov. 13 Ot 671-0101 ov Se 
cltto at/iaTa, ov Se airb to 8e\.r)fia tov crapKos ovSe a7ro 
to OeXr/fxa tov dvSpos, dAAa aTro tov ©eov iyewrjOrjcrav. 
14 Kat 6 Aoyos eytve crap£, Kat eKaTouc^crev ets ep.as, Kat 
"Sap.ev tt)v oofav tod - Sofav too-av (vtov) piovoyevovs otto 
tov TTO.Te.pcL, yep.dros X c 'P tv Ka ' dA^etav. 



'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Hiearion's Version'. 
AH dpx^s t;tov 6 Aoyos, Kat 6 Aoyos tjtov ojxov p.e tov 
©eov, Kat 6 Aoyos t)tov ©eos. 2 Avros tjtov car dp^/Js 
b/JLOV Lie tov ©eov. 3 "OAa (toi KTioyxaTa) iSruxiovpyrj- 
drjcrav 81' avrov (tov Aoyou), Kat Kavev a7ro oca ioT/fii- 
ovpyr)Sycrav, Sev HrjiiiovpyTjSrj ^copts avrov. 4 Ets avrbv 

TjTOV £o)t), Kat T] t,(l)TJ TjTOV TO (^)aJs TU)V dv^ptOTTWV. 5 Kat 

to (£a>s XdcLTrei fxecra ets to ctkotos, Kat to aKOTOs Sev to 
Karekafiev. 6 'EyeveTO Tts dv$pa)7ros dvoyu.a^O|0ievos Ito- 
dwrj?, 6 07rotos lo-TaXTf d-Trb tov ©eov. 7 Autos ^A ^e Stat 
va ykvrrrai LtdpTVi, na\ vd ixapTvpTjcrg 8ta to ^>uis, 8ta va 
■7rto"Teucra)crtv 0A01 Sta /j-icrov avrov. 8 Aev ^tov eKetvos 
(6 'Iwdw^s) to <^cus, (ecrTaAij) o/xws Sta va. LLapTvp-qcrri 
Sta to ^>Ss. 9 T6 dAr^^tvov <£<is ^tov, to 07roTov <^>WTt^et 
Ka5eva avSpaiTTOV, 6 O7rotos ep^eTat ets tov koo-llov. 
10 Ets tov koV/xov ^tov, Kat 6 Koo-jttos iSrjLnovpy^6rj St' 
avroC* 7rA^v 6 Koo-p,os Sev tov eyvajptcrev. u> HA$ev ets 
to. tStct tov, Kat ot tStot tov Sev tov eSe^^o-av. 12 Oo-ot 
o/itos tov eSex^crav, ets avrovs eSojKe StKata)/x.a tov va 
yevcovTai vtot ©eov, Si^AaS^ ets eKetvovs. ot 671-0101 «riir- 
Tevcrav ets to ovofid tov 13 Avtoi Sev iyewrjSr/crav awo 
ai/jLa, jxT/Ti. aTrb BiXrjcnv crapKOs, |U.ijTe a7r6 6e\.Tjcn.v 
dvSpos, dAA' eyew^^crav d7r6 t6v ©eo'v. 14 Kat 6 Aoyos 
eyeveTO crdpi;- kcu KaTCOKrjcrev ets t)jjm.%, ye/iaTOS a7ro 
p^dptv Kat dAij^etav, Kat ^aets et'So/ttev t^v 8o£av avrov 
(tov Aoyov), a)s So£av (vtov) 6 07rotos etvat p.ovoyevr)s 
a7r6 t6v ITaTepa. 



I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Modern Greek, or Eomaic, is the vernacular language of about 2,000,000 descendants of the ancient 
Greeks, dispersed throughout the Turkish empire. The modern kingdom of Greece, the original seat 
of the language, is bounded, as of old, on three sides by the Mediterranean; but on the north it extends 
no further than the frontiers of Albania and Thessaly: its area has been estimated at 15,000 square 
miles, and its population amounted, in 1856, to 1,067,216. The established religion of Greece is that 
of the Greek Church; but the authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople is not recognised, the King 
of Greece being regarded by his subjects as the head of the Church. Toleration is extended to all sects: 
Protestants are few in number, but there are about 4000 Jews, and (according to recent statements) as 
many as 70,000 Eoman Catholics, in Greece. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Although the yoke of foreign dominion has been imposed upon Greece from the time of the 

17 



242 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

Roman conquests till within the last half century, yet the classical language of the ancient Greeks has 
never given place to that of the conquerors, but has maintained its vitality in the midst of political ruin. 
It has been said that Modern Greek differs from Ancient Greek but little more than the Doric from the 
Attic dialect. This statement must be received with some reservation; yet it is certain that Italian, 
French, and Spanish, have diverged far more widely from Latin than Modern Greek from its 
parent source. 

The changes incident to time are not so visible in the vocabulary as in the grammatical structure 
of Modern Greek. The dual number, the dative case, the middle voice, and the optative mood, have 
all disappeared ; but, unlike the languages of Latin origin, this modern tongue retains the three genders 
and the declension of nouns. The place of the lost dative is commonly supplied by means of the 
accusative, either with or without the preposition efc: in all other respects, Greek nouns are still 
declined according to the analogy of the ancient language. On the other hand, in the conjugation of 
verbs, the Modern Greek departs further from the Ancient than Italian from Latin. The very system 
of conjugation is changed in Modern Greek; three auxiliary verbs are brought into requisition, and 
almost all the simple tenses have ceased to exist. Even the future is no longer expressed by a simple 
tense, but is construed in three ways: thus, OiXco <ypdtyei (I will write), 6i\ei <ypdty(o, and 0e vd 
ypdtyeo, (by crasis) da ypd-^rco, are all equivalent to the ancient ypdtyay. The composition of most of 
the other tenses is susceptible of similar variety. In syntax, the Modern Greek preserves many 
ancient turns of expression, yet at the same time admits of great innovations. In imitation of French 
and Italian, its verbs are accompanied by personal pronouns, more frequently than was customary in 
the ancient tongue; and it often changes the case formerly required by the particle or verb. Many 
peculiarities, characteristic of the New Testament and ecclesiastical writers, are to be met with in 
Modern Greek. The language no longer retains any possessive pronouns, but their place is supplied 
by the genitive case of the personal pronouns, and in the third person plural by the accusative of the 
relative pronoun, with or without a reflected pronoun. The ellipsis, or loss, of the infinitive, is 
accounted the greatest imperfection of Modern Greek : this mood is now construed by means of the 
particle vd (an abbreviation of the ancient ha) and the subjunctive; for instance, the Hellenic propo- 
sition, €7ri9vfi(b ISeiv avTov (I wish to see him), is now rendered iiridv^ca va tov ISS>. 

The term Romaic, or Romeika, is often applied to Modern Greek; it arises from the name 
Romaioi or Romans, obtained or assumed by the Greeks during the period of their subjection to the 
Roman empire of Constantinople. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

Three versions of the New Testament exist in Modern Greek. Of these, the earliest was printed 
at Geneva, in 1638, in parallel columns with the inspired text: it was executed by Maximus Calliergi 
(or Callipoli, as he is sometimes called), at the solicitation of Haga, the ambassador of the then United 
Provinces at Constantinople. The translation is remarkable for its close and literal adherence to the 
Greek original text. 

The expense of this work was borne by the United Provinces. It is preceded by two prefaces, 
the one by the translator, and the other by Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of Constantinople, who, having 
spent his youth at Geneva, had imbibed the principles of Calvinism: both prefaces treat on the 
necessity of presenting the Scriptures in a language intelligible to the people. This version was 
reprinted, with corrections, in 1703, in London, by the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts; and another edition was issued by the same Society in 1705. A reprint of this version, in 
12mo., was published at Halle, in 1710, at the expense of Sophia Louisa, queen of Prussia. 
From this edition, the British and Foreign Bible Society published an impression, under the 
superintendence of the Rev. J. F. Usko, in 1808, with the Ancient and Modern Greek in parallel 
columns. This edition was so favourably received, that, in 1812, it was found necessary to undertake 
another edition, for the supply of the urgent demands in the Levant, the isles of the Archipelago, and 






Class III.] MODERN GREEK. 243 

certain other Greek stations. A strict and thorough revision of the text being deemed requisite, the 
Rev. C. Williamson, and, afterwards, Dr. Pilkington, were directed by the British and Foreign Bible 
Committee to enquire among the learned Greeks at Constantinople for an individual properly qualified 
for so important an undertaking. The Archimandrite Hilarion (subsequently archbishop of Ternovo), 
with two assistants, both ecclesiastics, was accordingly appointed, in 1819, to execute a revision, or 
rather a new version, of the Testament ; and as a great desire had been expressed for a version of the 
entire Scriptures in Modern Greek, arrangements were at the same time made for the translation of 
the Old Testament. Father Simon, in his " Critical History," speaks of a version of the Bible in this 
language having been printed at Constantinople in the sixteenth century; but this statement has 
been doubted, and it is generally believed that the translation of the Old Testament undertaken 
by Hilarion, for the British and Foreign Bible Society, is the first that has ever been executed in 
Modern Greek. 

In 1827, Hilarion's version of the New Testament was completed; and, after having been 
submitted to the inspection of Constantius, archbishop of Mount Sinai, it was printed at the national 
printing-office in the patriarchate, under the eye of the Greek Church. This version was made from 
the inspired text; but though faithful and accurate as a translation, the diction is considered rather 
stiff, and the forms of the ancient language are too frequently imitated. About the same time, 
Hilarion executed a translation of the Old Testament from the Septuagint; and, in 1829, the whole of 
his MS. was submitted to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in London. After 
mature and anxious deliberation, however, the Committee came to the conclusion that it would be 
more desirable to circulate a version prepared from the Hebrew text itself, than a mere translation 
of the Septuagint. The Eev. H. D. Leeves was therefore appointed to reside in Corfu, where, with 
the assistance of natives, he commenced a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Modern Greek. 
In conjunction with the Eev. I. Lowndes (an agent of the London Missionary Society), he engaged 
the services of Professors Bambas and Tipaldo, to which, for a short period, were added those of 
Professor Joannides; and the plan pursued was the following: " A certain portion of the books of the 
Old Testament was allotted to each of the Greek translators, who with the English authorised version, the 
French of Martin, and the Italian of Diodati, before them, consulting also the Septuagint, the Vulgate, 
and other versions and aids where necessary, made as good a translation as they were able into the 
Modern Greek. It was then the office of Mr. Leeves and Mr. Lowndes to compare this translation 
with the Hebrew, calling in the aid of other versions and critical commentaries, and to make their 
observations and proposed corrections in the margin of the manuscript. The manuscript, thus prepared, 
was brought before the united body of translators, at their regular sittings, where the whole was read 
over; and every word and phrase being regularly weighed and discussed, the final corrections were 
made with general consent. A fair copy was then taken, the comparison of which with its original 
gave occasion to a last consideration of doubtful points; and afterwards it was sent to England for the 
press. This process was twice repeated in some parts of the work." 

In 1836, the translation of the Old Testament was completed; but in consequence of the great 
demand, portions had previously been committed to the press. As early as 1831, 5000 copies of the 
Psalms had been printed in London, under the care of Mr. Greenfield, after having been revised by 
the original, and corrected by Mr. T. P. Piatt; and this edition was so greatly approved, that another 
edition, also of 5000 copies, had followed in 1832, of which the Eev. W. Jowett was the editor. 
Mr. Leeves died in 1845, and the revision of the Old Testament, translated under his superintendence, 
then devolved upon Mr. Lowndes. He availed himself of the continued services of Professors Bambas 
and Nicoiaides in this revision ; and each sheet, when completed, was examined by the Eev. J. W. Mellor, 
vicar of Woodbridge. An edition of 3000 copies was printed at Oxford, in 1847, under the superinten- 
dence of the Eev. J. Jowett, assisted by Mr. Mellor. 

While engaged in the translation of the Old Testament, Professor Bambas devoted part of his 
time to the production of another version, or rather revision, of the New Testament in Modern Greek. 



244 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

This work was revised by Mr. Leeves and Mr. Lowndes; and 2000 copies of the Gospels and Acts were 
printed at Athens before the year 1839. An edition of 10,000 copies of the entire New Testament 
was printed at Athens, in 1848, by the British and Foreign Bible Society; and this revision is con- 
sidered so correct and idiomatic, that it has now completely superseded that of Archbishop Hilarion. 

A further revision of the Old Testament was undertaken by Mr. Lowndes, with the aid of 
Messrs. Bambas and Nicolaides, in 1846, and was completed early in 1849, after an arduous labour of 
three years' duration. The remaining portion of the year 1849 was devoted to a similar revision of 
the New Testament. Editions of these revised versions, embracing the entire Scriptures, have since been 
printed in England by the British and Foreign Bible Society; and an edition of 5000 New Testa- 
ments in Modern Greek was printed at Athens in 1854, concomitantly with one of 10,000 copies 
in London. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

It is a well known fact, and attested by native writers, that, before the efforts made by the 
British and Foreign Bible Society in Greece, nearly the whole Greek nation, though making an out- 
ward profession of Christianity, " knew only by hearsay of the existence of the Holy Scriptures." 
Hence it may well be considered as a manifestation of the merciful intentions of Divine Providence 
towards the Greeks, that, at the very commencement of their political career as a free people, this 
Society was induced to place before them the long-forgotten word of God in their own vernacular 
language. No less than 45,294 copies of the New Testament, in Ancient and Modern Greek, had, 
up to the end of 1858, been issued by the Society, besides 232,738 copies of smaller portions of the 
Scriptures in Modern Greek. 

The Greeks, as a nation, have received and valued the heavenly gift. The government encourages 
the reading of the Scriptures in the schools, and has charged the teachers of primary schools to 
communicate scriptural instruction to their pupils every Sunday after church. The good thus done 
is not confined to the children alone, for many of the parents have declared that " they have learnt 
much of the truths of the Gospel by hearing their children repeating their lessons." The school 
appears, indeed, to be the chief medium through which a knowledge of the word of God is becoming 
disseminated in Modern Greece. " I was pleased to find (writes Mr. Lowndes in a recent communi- 
cation addressed to the British and Foreign Bible Society, and dated from Athens) on my arrival here, 
a confirmation of what Mr. Nicolaides had stated by letter, viz. : that the Director of Government 
schools now distributes the New Testament to these establishments. Four thousand copies of the 
edition of 1844 were presented to the Government by Mr. Leeves, for this purpose, and they remained 
undisturbed in their magazine till lately; but now a large portion of them have been issued, and 
the remainder are to be thus disposed of." The Scriptures are now exposed for sale, without 
hindrance, in one of the most public streets of Athens. All who choose to avail themselves of it, have 
free access to the word of God. Concerning the spiritual results of this extensive circulation and 
perusal of the Scriptures, we are not without satisfactory evidence. One missionary writes: " It hath 
pleased Him who hath said, ' My word shall not return unto me void,' to grant us, in addition, many 
interesting proofs that ' God is not slack concerning his promises.' We know many who are even now 
walking in the light of God's word. They are as suns in the centre of their respective circles, and 
their influence attracts others to come and seek at its source the light which they are distributing." 



Class III.] 



LATIN. 



245 



LATIN. 

SPECIMEN, FKOM EXODUS, Chap. xv. v. 1 to 13. 



Ante-IIieronymian Version. 

1 Tunc cantavit Moyses & filii Israel 
canticum hoc Domino, & dixerunt di- 
eere : Cantemus Domino : gloriose enim 
magnificatus est, equum & ascensorem 
dejecit in mare. 2 Adjutor, & protector 
factus est mihi in salutem : iste Deus 
meus, & glorificabo eum : Deus patris 
mei, & exaltabo eum. 3 Dominus con- 
terens bella, Dominus nomen est ei. 

4 Currus Faraonis & exercitum ejus 
projecit in mare : electos ascensores 
ternos stantes demersit in rubro mari. 

5 Pelago cooperuit eos, devenerunt in 
profundum tanquam lapis. 6 Dextera 
tua, Domine, glorificata est in virtute : 
dextera manus tua, Domine, eonfregit 
inimicos. 1 Et per multitudinem glo- 
riae tuae contribulasti adversarios ; mi- 
sisti iram tuam, & comedit illos tan- 
quam stipulam. 8 Et per spiritum iras 
tuas divisa est aqua : gelaverunt tan- 
quam murus aquse, gelaverunt fluctus 
in medio mari. 9 Dixit inimicus : Per- 
sequens comprehendam, partibor spolia, 
replebo animam meam : interficiam 
gladio meo, dominabitur manus mea. 
'0 Misisti spiritum tuum, & cooperuit 
eos mare : descenderunt tanquam plum- 
bum in aquam validissimam. u Quis 
similis tibi in diis Domine ? quis similis 
tibi, gloriosus in Sanctis, mirabilis in 
majestatibus, faciens prodigia? 12 Ex- 
tendisti dexteram tuam, & devoravit eos 
terra. > 3 Gubernasti in justitia tua 
populum tuum hunc quem redemisti : 
exnortatus es in virtute tua, in requie 
sancta tua. 



Vulgate Version. 

1 Tunc cecinit Moyses et filii Israel 
carmen hoc Domino, et dixerunt : Can- 
temus Domino : gloriose enim magnifi- 
catus est ; equum et ascensorem dejecit 
in mare. 2 Fortitudo mea, et laus mea 
Dominus, et factus est mihi in salutem : 
iste Deus meus, et glorificabo eum : 
Deus patris mei, et exaltabo eum. 
3 Dominus quasi vir pugnator ; Omni- 
potens nomen ejus. 4 Cujrus Phara- 
onis et exercitum ejus projecit in mare : 
electi principes ejus submersi sunt in 
Mari rubro. 5 Abyssi operuerunt eos, 
descenderunt in profundum quasi lapis. 
6 Dextera tua, Domine, magnificata est 
in fortitudine : dextera tua, Domine, 
percussit inimicum. 1 Et in multitu- 
dine glorias tuae deposuisti adversarios 
tuos : misisti iram tuam, quae devoravit 
eos sicut stipulam. 8 Et in spiritu fu- 
roris tui congregatae sunt aquas : stetit 
unda fluens, congregates sunt abyssi in 
medio mari. 9 Dixit inimicus : Perse- 
quar et comprehendam, dividam spolia, 
irnplebitur anima mea : evaginabo glad- 
ium meum, interficiet eos manus mea. 
'"Flavit spiritus tuus, et operuit eos 
mare : submersi sunt quasi plumbum 
in aquis vehementibus. ' l Quis similis 
tui in fortibus Domine ? quis similis 
tui, magnificus in sanctitate, terribilis 
atque laudabilis, faciens mirabilia ? 
i2Extendisti manum tuam, et devo- 
ravit eos terra. I3 Dux fuisti in mise- 
ricordia tua populo quem redemisti : et 
portasti eum in fortitudine tua, ad ha- 
bitaculum sanctum tuum. 



Pagninus's Version. 

1 Tunc cecinit MoiDseh et filii Lds- 
ra«el canticum istud Iehouas, et dixe- 
runt in hunc modum, Cantabo Iehouas, 
quia magnificando magnificatus est, equ- 
um et sessorem eius proiecit in Mare. 

2 Fortitudo mea, et laus est Iah : fuit 
enim mihi in salutem : iste Deus meus, 
propterea tabernaculum faciam ei : iste 
Deus patris mei, propterea exaltabo 
eum. 3 Iehouah vir belli, Iehouahnomen 
eius. 4 Currus Parroh et exercitum eius 
proiecit in Mare, et electi principes eius 
submersi sunt in Mari Dsuph. 5 Vora- 
gines operuerunt eos, descenderunt in 
profunda tanquam lapis. 6 Dextera tua 
Iehouah, magnificata est fortitudine : 
dextera tua, 6 Iehouah, eonfregit ini- 
micum. 7 Et in multitudine magnifi- 
centias tuae destruxisti inimicos tuos : 
immisisti iram tuam, deuorauit eos 
sicut stipulam. 8 Et spiritu naris tuas 
coaceruatas sunt aquas, steterunt sicuti 
aceruus fluenta, coagulatas sunt vora- 
gines in corde Maris. 9 Dixit inimicus, 
Persequar, comprehendam, diuidam spo- 
lia, explebitur eis anima mea, euaginabo 
gladium meum, perdet eos manus mea. 
io Flauisti vento tuo, et cperuit eos Mare, 
absorpti sunt tanquam plumbum in aquis 
vehementibus. ' 1 Quis sicut tu in diis, 
6 Iehouah ? quis sicut tu, magnificus in 
sanctitate, terribilis laudibus, faciens 
mirabilia ? 12 Extendisti dexteram 
tuam, deglutiuit eos terra. 13 Duces 
per misericordiam tuam populum hunc 
quem redemisti, duces in fortitudine 
tua ad habitaculum sanctitatis tuas. 



I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Latin, the language of the ancient Eomans, derived its name from the small state of Latium, of which 
it was the vernacular language. With the Koman conquests it was carried beyond its originally narrow 
limits to the utmost boundaries of the then known world, and ultimately it became co-extensive with 
the Koman empire, in many cases mingling with and remoulding the dialects of the conquered nations. 
When, with the decline of the Koman power, it ceased to be the medium of colloquial intercourse, it 
continued to maintain its supremacy throughout Europe, during the whole of the middle ages, as the 
general language of literature, of philosophy, of legislation, of religion, and of inter-communication 
between the learned of all countries. From the establishment of the papacy to the present day it has 
constituted the liturgical language of the Roman Catholic Church; and it is still extensively cultivated 
by every civilised nation of the earth, on account of the treasures contained in the vast repository of its 
literature. 



246 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



[Class III. 



Munster's Version. 

i Tvnc cantauit Moses & filij Israel 
canticum istud domino, & dicentes dix- 
erunt : cantabo domino, quoniam tri- 
umphando magnifice egit : equum & 
ascensorem eius deiecit in mare. 2 For- 
titudo mea & laus dominus, faetusque 
est mihi in salutem : iste deus meus, & 
decorabo eura : deus patri mei, & ex- 
altabo eum. 3 Dominus uir bellicosus, 
dominus nomen eius. 4 Quadrigas Pha- 
raonis & exercitum eius proiecit in 
mare : & eleeti duces eius, demersi sunt 
in mari rubro. 5 Abyssi operuerunt 
eos, descenderunt in profunditates quasi 
lapis. 

6 Dextra tua domine magnificata 
est in uirtute : dextera tua domine fre- 
gitinimicum. 7 Et in multitudine mag - 
nificentiae tuae, subuertisti insurgentes 
contra te : misisti furorem tuum, qui 
absumpsit eos quasi stipulam. » Per 
flatum narium tuarum, coaceruatae sunt 
aquae : steterunt quasi cumulus fluidae 
aquae : coagnlatae sunt abyssi in corde 
maris. 9 Dixit hostis : persequar, ap- 
prehendam, diuidam spolia: implebitur 
ab eis anima mea : euaginabo gladium 
meum, perdet eos manus mea. 10 Flau- 
isti per uentum tuum, operuit eos mare : 
demersi sunt quasi plumbum, in aquis 
uehementibus. u Quis ut tu in dijs 
domine ? quis sicut tu magnificus in 
sanctitate, terribilis laudibus, faciens 
mirabilia? 12 Extendistidexteram tuam, 
deuorauit eos terra. >3 Duxisti in tua 
misericordia populum istum, quem re- 
demisti : duxisti in tua fortitudine ad 
habitaculum sanctitatis tuae. 



Leo Juda's Version. 

1 Tunc cecinit Moses et filij Israel can- 
ticum istud Domino, et cecinerunt in 
hunc modum, Cantabo Domino, quia 
magnifice magnificentiam suam exeruit, 
equum et currus eius sublatos in altum 
deiecit in mare. 2 Dominus est robur 
et carmen meum, qui fuit seruator 
meus : iste [inquam dominus] est deus 
meus, hunc decorabo : deus patris mei, 
hunc extollam. 3 Dominus uir bella- 
tor, Dominus nomen eius. 4 Quadrigas 
Pharaonis et copias eius deiecit in mare, 
et eleeti triarij eius demersi sunt in mari 
carectoso. 5 Abyssi eos operuerunt, des- 
cenderunt in profunditates ueluti lapis. 
6 Dextera tua 6 Domine, excellenti 
uirtute eminuit, dextera tua 6 Domine 
hostem confregit. ? Et in multitudine 
magnificentiae tuae subuertisti insur- 
gentes contra te, misisti furorem tuum, 
qui deuorauit eos tanquam stipulam. 
8 In flatu narium tuarum coaceruatae 
sunt aquae, flumina constiterunt ut 
cumulus, abyssi coagulatae sunt in 
medio mari. 9 Hostis dixit, Persequar, 
apprehendam, dividam spolia, imple- 
bitur eis anima mea : exeram gladium 
meum, perdet eos manus mea. "> Uento 
tuo flauisti, mare eos operuit, demersi 
sunt ueluti plumbum in aquis uehemen- 
tibus. ii Quis tui similis in dijs 6 Do- 
mine ? Quis sicut tu magnificus sanc- 
titate ? formidabilis laudibus, faciens 
admiranda ? ' 2 Extendente te dexteram 
tuam deglutiuit eos terra. 1 3 Duxisti 
tua bonitate populum istum, quem asse- 
ruisti, duxisti tua fortitudine ad habi- 
taculum sanctuarij tui. 



Castalio's Version. 

1 Tum Moses una cum Israelitis car- 
men hoc Iouae cecinit. Iouam canto, 
qui pro sua praestantia et equos, et 
equites in mare deiecerit. Vires meae, 
carmenque Ioua est, qui mihi saluti 
fuit. 2 Hie meus est Deus, quem cele- 
bro: Deus patrius, quem extollo. 3 Ioua 
vir bellicosus, Ioua inquam qui nomi- 
natur. 4 Pharaonis et currus et copias 
in mare deturbauit, ita ut illius duces 
lectissimi in mare rubrum demersi, 5 et 
undis obruti, in funduin tanquam saxa 
subsederint. 



6 Tu ista dextera, 6 Ioua, decus 
tibi fortissime peperisti : ista dex- 
tera Ioua hostem oppressisti, 1 et tua 
singulari praestantia infestos tuos euer- 
tisti, laxataque ira tua quasi sti- 
pulam confecisti. 8 Ergo ad tuorum 
narium flatum coaceruatae sunt aquae : 
stetere fluctus in cumulum, inque mari 
medio undae concreuerunt. 9 Dixerat 
hostis : Persequar, assequar, diuidam 
praedam, animum meum ex illis ex- 
plebo, gladium stringam, illos mea 
manu peruertam. 10 At te spiritu isto 
flante obruti sunt mari, et plumbi ritu 
in aquas nobiles demersi. ' ' Quis tibi 
deorum par est, 6 Ioua ? quis cum 
sacro isto decore conferendus ? 6 ter- 
ribilis, laudabilis, mirifice, 1 2 qui ex- 
tensa dextera tua, illis humo absorp- 
tis, 13 populum hunc a te redemp- 
tum pro tua dementia abducis, et 
tua ui in tuum sacrum perducis domi- 
cilium. 



II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Latin language originated from that of the Pelasgians, an ancient race by whom Greece and 
Italy were overspread at a very early period of history. This identity of origin accounts for the many 
instances of similarity which exists between the Greek and Latin languages. In Italy the Pelasgian 
type was considerably altered by the influence of the numerous petty dialects, chiefly of Celtic origin, 
anciently spoken in that peninsula ; and hence Latin possesses a class of words, and certain peculiarities 
of grammatical structure, which are not to be found in Greek. On the other hand, Greek has deviated 
in many respects from the parent stock, where Latin has remained faithful to the original : there are, 
for instance, a number of Sanscrit words, which in Greek have been altered by the addition of the 
prefix 0, while in Latin they remain to a great degree unchanged; such as oSoix;, in Sanscrit danta, 
and in Latin dens; ovopa, in Sanscrit nama, and in Latin nomen; and many others. Latin is inferior 
to Greek in the power of compounding words, so that in translating Greek poetry into Latin, difficulty 
has been often felt in finding terms to express the picturesque epithets of the Greeks. No language, 
however, can surpass the Latin in the power of expressing in one word accessory notions combined 
witli the principal idea: this power, the result of numerous inflections, adds greatly to the characteristic 
energy and conciseness of Latin phraseology. 



III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

We possess no direct evidence as to the time when the Scriptures were first translated into Latin. 
There is no reason to suppose that a Latin translation would be peculiarly wanted by the large body of 



Class III.] 



LATIN. 



247 



Junius and Tremellius's Version. 

1 Tunc canens Mosche et filii Jisraelis 
canticum istud Jehovae, loquuti sunt 
dicendo ; Cantabo Jehovae, eo quod ad- 
modum excelluit, equum et sessorem 
ejus dejecit in mare. 2 Robur meum et 
carmen Jah, qui fuit mihi saluti : hie 
est Deus fortis meus, cui habitaculum 
decorum ponam, Deus patris mei quern 
exaltabo. 3 Jehova est bellicosissimus, 
nomen ejus est Jehova. 4 Currus Par- 
lionis et copias ejus praecipitavit in 
mare ; delectusque praefectorum ejus 
demersi sunt in mare algosum. 5 Abyssi 
operuerunt eos, descenderunt in pro- 
funda velut lapis. 6 Dextera tua, 6 Je- 
hova, magnificat se mihi virtute ilia: 
dextera tua, Jehova, confringis hostem : 
1 Et magnitudine excellentiae tuas sub- 
vertis insurgentes contra te : furorem 
tuum immittis, consumit eos tamquam 
ignis stipulam. 8 Quum flatu narium 
tuarum coacervatae sunt aquae, consti- 
terunt velut cumulus fluida : concre- 
verunt abyssi in intima parte maris : 

9 Dixerat hostis, persequar, assequar, 
dividam praedam : explebitur eis anima 
mea, exseram gladium meum, asseret 
eos in haereditatem manus mea. '"Fla- 
visti vento tuo, operuit eos mare : pro- 
funda petierunt tamquam plumbum, in 
aquis validis. n Quis est sicut tu inter 
fortissimos, Jehova ? quis est sicut tu, 
magnificus sanctitate ? reverendus lau- 
dibus ? mirificus ? > 2 Extendisti dex- 
teram tuam, deglutivit eos terra. 13 De- 
ducis benignitate tua populum quern 
redemisti : commode ducis robore tuo ad 
decorum habitaculum sanctitatis tuae. 



Schmidt's Version. 

1 Tunc cecinit Moses, & filii Jisrael, 
canticum hoc Jehova, & dixerunt di- 
cendo ; Cantabo Jehova, quia exalt- 
ando exaltavit Se : equum & equitem 
ejus projecit in mare. 2 Fortitudo mea 
& canticum Jah, & factus est mihi in 
salutem : Hie Deus meus, ideo cele- 
brabo Eum ; Deus patris mei, ideo 
exaltabo Eum. 3 Jehovah (est) vir 
belli : Jehovah (est merito) nomen 
Ejus. 4 Currus Pharaonis & exercitum 
ejus projecit in mare ; & electi ternari- 
orum ejus submersi sunt in mari Suph. 
5 Abyssi contexerunt eos : descende- 
runt in profunditates, sicut lapis. 6 Dex- 
tra Tua, Jehovah, ma^nifica est ro- 
bore : dextra Tua, Jehovah, confringit 
hostem. ? Et magnitudine excellentiae 
Tuae destruis consurgentes contra Te : 
emittis excandescentiam Tuam, (quae) 
comedit eos, sicut stipulam. 8 Et flatu 
narium Tuarum coacervatae sunt aquae ; 
steterunt sicut cumulus fluenta ; con- 
gelatae sunt abyssi in corde maris. 

9 Dixitinimicus; persequar, assequar, 
dividam spolium : implebitur eis anima 
mea : denudabo gladium Meum : ex- 
pellet eos manus Mea. 10 (Sed) spirasti 
vento Tuo, (turn) contexit eos mare : 
submersi sunt, sicut plumbum in aquis 
validis. J1 Quis sicut Tu, in Diis, Je- 
hovah ? quis, sicut Tu, magnificus 
sanctitate: venerandus laudibus, faciens 
miraculum ? I 2 Extendisti dextram 
Tuam ; absorpsit eos terra. ! 3 D uxisti in 
misericordia Tua populum eum, (quern) 
redemisti : deduxisti in fortitudine Tua 
ad habitaculum sanctitatis Tuae. 



Dathe's Version. 

1 Tunc Moses et Israelitae hoc carmen 
in honorem Jovae dixere : Jovam cano, 
nam magna praestitit. Equum et equi- 
tem in mare dejecit. 2 Deum canam 
ob defensionem mihi praestitam. Saluti 
mihi fuit. Ille Deus meus, hunc cele- 
brabo. Deus patrius, hunc laudibus 
extollam. 3 Jova fuit bellator, is qui 
Jova nominatur. 4 Currus Pharaonis 
et exercitum ejus in mare projecit, du- 
ces ejus lectissimi mari Arabiae sunt 
immersi. 5 Fluctibus obruti in fundum 
tanquam lapis subsiderunt. 6 Dextra 
tua, o Jova, insignem virtutem ostendit, 
dextra tua, o Jova, hostem prostravit. 
1 Immensa tua potentia evertisti adver- 
saries tuos, ab ardente ira tua consumti 
sunt ut stipula. 8 Halitutuo coacerva- 
tae sunt aquae, steterunt in cumulum 
erecti fluctus, in medio mari undae con- 
creverunt. 



9 Dixit hostis : persequar, assequar, 
praedam dividam, jam vota mea ex- 
plebuntur : stringam gladium, manu 
mea perdentur. 10 Vento tuo flabas, 
turn mare eos texit, fundum petie- 
runt ut plumbum in aquis profundis. 
"Quis tui similis est, o Jova, inter 
Deos ? quis ut tu tanta sanctitate est 
conspicuus ? Laudibus illustris, qui 
mira praestat! 12 Manum tuam exten- 
debas, turn terra eos absorpsit. '3 Ducis 
pro benignitate populum, quern tibi 
vindicasti, ducis eum pro potentia tua 
ad sedem tuam sanctam. 



Christians residing at Rome in the earliest ages, for Greek was well understood by both the educated 
and uneducated. This language spread among even the lower classes, from the great influx of 
strangers into the capital of the civilised earth, with whom Greek was the general language of com- 
munication, as well as from the vast number of slaves in Rome brought from countries where Greek 
had obtained some footing: besides this, the near proximity of Rome to the cities of Magna Graxia, to 
which the franchises of the jus Latinum had been extended, must have had no small influence. And 
indeed the fact of St. Paul having written in Greek to the church at Rome, may be taken as at least an 
indication that Latin was not absolutely required by the Christians in that city. 

A Latin version had, however, been made some time before the end of the second century. Such 
a version was used by Tertullian, who criticised it, and condemned some of its renderings. Many have 
supposed that there existed originally numerous independent Latin translations; and in proof of this 
they have turned to passages in Jerome and Augustine, which speak of the multiplicity of translations, 
and they have also pointed out how differently the same texts are read by different Latin Fathers. The 
statements, however, of Jerome and Augustine may be better understood as relating to what versions 
had become through repeated alterations ; and the variety in citations appears to have arisen 
partly from the use of such altered versions, and partly from writers having translated passages for 
themselves. 

Lachmann especially has given good reasons for supposing that at first there existed but one 
version in Latin, and that it was made in the north of Africa, in that Roman province of which 
Carthage was the metropolis. Like most of the other ancient versions, we know not from whose hand 



248 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

it sprung; and it does not seem as if much authority was attached to it, otherwise private individuals 
would hardly have felt themselves at liberty to alter it almost at pleasure. 

As this version was made from the Greek, it was in the Old Testament based on the LXX., and 
not on the original Hebrew. Hence it has resulted, that when a version of the Old Testament into 
Latin had been made from the Hebrew, the older version fell after a time into such oblivion, that only 
fragments of it have come down to us. 

In the latter part of the fourth century, the process of continually altering and correcting the 
Latin copies occasioned great confusion : this was remarked by Jerome, Augustine, and others. The 
latter of these Fathers speaks of the multiplicity of the versions then current, and, amongst them all, 
commends one which he calls the Itala. This term has occasioned much discussion, and much mis- 
apprehension. Some have thought the word Itala to be an error; while others have strangely applied 
the name of Itala or Italic to all the Latin versions extant prior to the time of Jerome. It is evident, 
however, that Augustine meant some one version, and that it was one which had been revised, and that 
the name indicates its connection with the province of Upper Italy (Italic in contrast to Roman), of 
which Milan (Mediolanum) was the capital. It is well known how closely Augustine was connected 
with Milan; it might, we believe, be shown, that in his day pains were taken to revise the Latin 
copies in that very district. One thing at least is certain, that however common it may be to call the 
ancient Latin versions indiscriminately " the Old Italic," the name ought to be rejected, as having 
originated in misconception, and as perpetuating a confusing error. 

Before we speak of the labours of Jerome for the revision and retranslation of the Latin text, we 
have to mention what editions have been published of the older translations. 

In 1588, Flaminio Nobili published at Rome a work which professed to be the ancient Latin 
version of the Old Testament, made from the Greek : it was, however, always considered doubtful from 
what sources Nobili had taken the passages, so as to give the Old Testament complete ; and now it is 
certain that he really in general did nothing but translate into Latin the Sixtine text of the LXX. 

Sabatier, one of the distinguished French Benedictines, published at Rheims, in 1743-^9, a very 
large collection of fragments of the ancient versions: he drew them from MSS. and citations: the 
modern Vulgate is placed by the side of the more ancient text, and the various citations of Latin 
Fathers are given very elaborately in the notes. Besides the collection of Old Testament fragments 
given by Sabatier, some passages of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Hosea, were found by Dr. Feder, in 
a Wiirzburg Codex Rescriptus; and they were published by Dr. Miinter in 1821. Cardinal Mai has 
also given, in his Spicilegium Romanum, vol. ix. 1843, some fragments of such a version. 

The term Ante-Hieronymian is often used as a general expression for denoting all the versions or 
revisions made before the labours of Jerome. Of these we possess not a few of the Gospels, and som ; 
of other parts of the New Testament. Martianay published, in 1695, an old text of St. Matthew's 
Gospel and of the Epistle of St. James. In 1749 (as has been mentioned), Sabatier published all he 
could collect of the New Testament. In the same year, Bianchini published at Rome his Evangeliarum 
Quadruplex, containing the Latin texts of the Gospels, as found in the Codices Vercellensis, Veronensis, 
Brixianus, and Corbeiensis. Subjoined there were some Latin texts of parts of Jerome's version. The 
principal of these was the Codex Forojuliensis. In 1828, Cardinal Mai gave, in his " Collectio 
Vaticana," vol. iii., an Ante-Hieronymian version of St. Matthew's Gospel, from a MS. which in the 
other Gospels followed Jerome's version. We have, in the last place, to mention the " Evangelium 
Palatinum," a purple MS. at Vienna, of which Tischendorf published a magnificent edition in 1847. 

Besides these Latin texts, there are also others of which we cannot speak with entire certainty, as 
they accompany a Greek text in the same MS. : they may probably, therefore, be versions which never 
had a separate circulation. Hearne published in 1715, at Oxford, the Greco-Latin Codex Laudianus 
of the book of Acts; in 1793, Kipling edited the Codex Bezas of the Gospels and Acts; and, in 1791, 
Matthsei published the Codex Boernerianus of St. Paul's Epistles, which has an interlineary Latin 
version: a similar copy of the Four Gospels, Codex Sangallensis, was published in 1836, by Rettig. 



Class III.] LATIN. 249 

We have now to speak of the version of Jerome. The labours of this most learned of the Fathers 
will be described most clearly by mentioning, in chronological order, the respective versions and 
revisions which he undertook. 

His first labour was the correction of the Latin text of the New Testament, beginning with the 
Four Gospels, which he undertook at the request of Pope Damasus : this was executed about the year 
382, after Jerome's return to Borne from the East. He used the old Latin version, then in common 
use, as a basis ; but as it was incorrect in many ways, and passages in one gospel had been inserted in 
another, etc., he amended it in accordance with ancient Greek MSS. He feared innovating too much, 
and thus he did not correct every thing which he thought inaccurate. In his other works, he often 
mentions renderings and readings which he preferred to those which he allowed to remain in his version. 

Soon after this revision of the Latin New Testament, he corrected the Psalter then in common 
use at Eome, by amending some of the places in which it was wide of the LXX. text, from which it 
had been originally translated. This revision obtained the sanction of the church at Eome, and it was 
widely used at one time in the Latin Church : in this country it was used at Canterbury alone until the 
Eeformation. The Council of Trent, however, rejected this version in favour of the Galilean Psalter, 
of which we have next to speak; its use was henceforth confined simply to the city of Eome. 

After the return of Jerome to the East in 384, he employed himself, in his retreat at Bethlehem, 
in carefully making a recension of the Old Testament, in accordance with the Hexaplar text of the 
LXX. The Psalter, with which he seems to have begun, obtained a wide use in the Latin Church, 
under the name of the Galilean Psalter : the Council of Trent adopted it as of authority, as it had then 
a place in the Latin Bibles. Jerome proceeded in his revision of the Old Testament, in accordance 
with the Hexaplar text of the LXX. : the whole of this version, however (except the Psalms, Job, 
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, and Chronicles), was, as he says in a letter to Augustine, lost by fraud. 
Job is the only book of this version which we possess, besides the Psalms, as already stated. 

But even while Jerome was occupied with the recension according to the LXX., he had com- 
menced and made considerable progress in a far more important work. With great pains he had 
acquired a very fair knowledge of Hebrew, and several of his friends were anxious to profit by his 
superior attainments: at their solicitations he translated book after book of the Old Testament, between 
the years 385 and 405. This important work was looked on by many as an innovation; loud were 
the outcries against any departure from the LXX., which was then commonly believed to be possessed 
of divine authority. It proves that Jerome's strength of purpose must indeed have been great; or 
else a person so sensitive as to his own reputation for orthodoxy would never have stemmed the 
opposition that was raised. His energy in acquiring the Hebrew language was very remarkable; he 
obtained all the information he could from Jewish teachers, and he made diligent use of all the Greek 
versions then extant. His Latinity, though not classical, is vigorous; indeed his version is refined 
and elegant, when compared with the translation into that language which was current in the days of 
Tertullian. 

Jerome's labours were gradually appreciated; after a lapse of about two centuries, his version from 
the Hebrew of all the Old Testament, except the Psalms, and his revision of the New, were adopted 
pretty generally: the Psalms were taken from his version from the LXX. The adoption, however, of 
Jerome's version occasioned its corruption, by the admixture of the older renderings, and by other 
mistakes of copyists. The first reviser of whom we read was the celebrated Englishman, Alcuin, who 
about the year 802, at the command of Charlemagne, endeavoured to correct the Vulgate, as Jerome's 
version, as transmitted, was called. It was formerly thought by some, that he revised with the Hebrew 
and Greek texts; but it has been shown that this was not his object: he only endeavoured to restore 
the text as it stood in ancient Latin copies. A noble MS. of Alcuin's recension in now in the British 
Museum. Other revisions were undertaken by Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury (ob. 1089), and others, 
for the text was continually injured by copyists. 

After the invention of printing, the first book to which this almost divine art was applied was the 



250 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass III. 

Latin Vulgate. The first edition has no indication of place or date : the earliest which is dated is that 
of Mayence, 1462. The first printers just followed the copy which they could most conveniently 
procure. Cardinal Ximenes took some pains to give the text more carefully in the Complutensian 
Polyglot, 1514-17; and yet farther care was taken in the editions of Eobert Stephens, 1528-46; of 
Hentenius, 1547; and of the Louvain divines in 1573. Meanwhile, in 1546, the Council of Trent 
had decreed the Latin Vulgate to be " authentic;" and it was considered to be the prerogative of the 
Popes to issue an authoritative edition. In 1590 this was done by Sixtus the Fifth, a little before his 
death. Although he threatened with excommunication any one who should vary from his text, his 
third successor, Clement the Eighth, in 1592, published a very different text: he professed in this 
merely to correct the errata of the Sixtine text; but this does not explain the variations. In 1593, 
another edition was published with some alterations, which, with a few corrections made soon after, 
is the standard Vulgate of the whole Romish Church. 

It is not regarded, even by Romanists, as altogether the genuine version of Jerome; and some 
renderings are palpably corrupt, so as to suit false dogmas. The Benedictine editors of Jerome in 1693, 
Martianay and Poujet, used MS. authority for printing his biblical versions, as also did the Verona 
editors, Vallarsi and Mattei, in 1734-42. 

There are also other MSS. of Jerome's translation extant, of great antiquity and excellence; 
particularly the Codex Amiatinus at Florence, of which an imperfect collation has been published. 
It has since been twice collated in the New Testament part; and from this and similar sources the 
version of Jerome might be restored to nearly the condition in which it left his hand. 

As Jerome's own translation of the Psalms from the Hebrew is not contained in the Vulgate, it 
has been given, as well as that of the Vulgate, in the Biblia Polyglotta Ecclesm and the Hexaplar 
Psalter, under the name which it usually bears, Psalterium Hebraicum. 

Although no version but the Vulgate has ever been received as " authentic" by the Romish 
Church, yet, on account of the many errors and corruptions by which that text is disfigured, several 
attempts have been made, by Catholics as well as by Protestants, to produce more correct Latin versions. 
The following is a brief description of these modern translations : — 

I. The version of Pagninus, containing the Old and New Testaments, was published at Lyons in 

1528. This is a very close and servile representation of the original texts, and the 
diction is often obscure and barbarous. Pagninus was a Dominican monk of great 
learning, and he executed this version under the patronage of the Popes, Leo X., 
Adrian VI., and Clement VII. His version of the Old Testament was reprinted by 
Stephens in 1557. 

II. The revision of the version of Pagninus by Arias Montanus was published in the Antwerp, 

Paris, and London Polyglots. In this revision the most literal signification of the 
Hebrew words is given without any reference to the context, and even the number of 
Latin words is accommodated to that of the Hebrew. The chief use of this revision is 
therefore that of a grammatical commentary for Hebrew students. In the New Testa- 
ment, Montanus chiefly made use of the Vulgate, contenting himself with correcting it 
in a few places according to the Greek. 

III. The version of Mahenda, a Spanish Dominican, printed at Lyons in 1650, was never 

regarded with any estimation, on account of its obscure and ungrammatical diction, and 
it has now completely fallen into oblivion. 

IV. The version of Cardinal Cajetan comprises only the Old Testament, and was published at 

Lyons in 1639. Cajetan had no knowledge of Hebrew, but he employed two trans- 
lators well acquainted with that' language, the one a Jew and the other a Christian, to 
execute the version under his superintendence. This, like the preceding translations, 
adheres rigidly to the very letter of the text. 



Class III.] LATIN. 251 

V. The version of Houbigant, celebrated for the elegance and freedom of its style, was published 
at Paris in 1753, in a critical edition of the Hebrew Bible. This version, which com- 
prises only the Old Testament, is executed from Father Houbigant's emended Hebrew 
text. 

These five modern versions were all produced by Eoman Catholics. The following are the principal 
Latin versions executed by Protestants : — 

I. The version of Munster was published at Basle in 1534, and again in 1546: it is confined to 

the Old Testament, and is held in some reputation on account of the clearness of the 
style, and its strict fidelity to the Hebrew text. This version is preferred by Father 
Simon and other critics to that of Pagninus and Montanus. 

II. The version of the Old and New Testaments commenced by Leo Juda and completed by 

Bibliander, professor of divinity at Zurich, was printed in 1543, and again by Stephens 
at Paris in 1545. In general accuracy and fidelity this version equals that of Munster; 
and the style, though less literal, is more elegant. 

III. The version of Castalio or Chatillon was printed at Basle in 1551, with a dedication to 

Edward VI., king of England. It was reprinted at Basle in 1573, and at Leipsic in 
1738. The design of Castalio was to produce a Latin translation of both Testaments 
in the pure classical language of the ancient Latin writers. 

IV. The version of Junius and Tremellius was published at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1575-1579. 

It was afterwards corrected by Junius, and on account of its close adherence to the 
Hebrew, the Old Testament of this version has been frequently reprinted. The New 
Testament, translated from the Syriac version by Tremellius, with Beza's translation 
from the Greek, appeared in a second edition at Geneva in 1590. 

V. Schmidt's version of the Old and New Testaments was executed with great exactness from the 

original texts, and printed at Strasburg in 1696. Several more recent editions have 
been issued. 

VI. The version of Dathe, professor of Oriental literature at Leipsic, appeared in 1773-1789, and 

is considered a faithful and elegant translation of the Hebrew text. 

VII. The version of the Pentateuch by Schott and Winzer was translated from the Hebrew, and 

published at Leipsic in 1816. 



LATIN VEESIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.— St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

In principio erat verbum, et verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat verbum. 2 Hoc 
erat in principio apud Deum. 3 Omnia per ipsum facta sunt: et sine ipso factum est nihil, 
quod factum est. 4 In ipso vita erat, et vita erat lux hominum : 5 Et lux in tenebris 
lucet, et tenebra? earn non comprehenderunt. 6 Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen erat 
Joannes. 7 Hie venit in testimonium, ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine, ut omnes 
crederent per ilium. 8 Non erat ille lux, sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine. 
9 Erat lux vera, qua? illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum. 10 In 
mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit. u In propria 
venit, et sui eum non receperunt. 12 Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem 
filios Dei fieri, his, qui credunt in nomine ejus : 13 Qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex 
voluntate carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt. u Et verbum caro factum 
est, et habitavit in nobis : et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi unigeniti a patre, plenum 
gratia? et veritatis. 



252 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



[Class III. 



Ante-Hieronymian Version. 

' In principio erat verbum, & verbum 
erat apud Deum, & Deus erat verbum. 

2 Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. 

3 Omnia per ipsum facta sunt : & sine 
ipso factum est nihil, quod factum est. 

4 In ipso vita est, & vita erat lux ho- 
minum : 5 & ] ux m tenebris lucet, & 
tenebrae earn non comprehenderunt. 

6 Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen 
erat Johannes. 1 Hie venit in testimo- 
nium, ut testimonium perhiberet de 
lumine, ut omnes crederent per ilium : 
8 non erat ille lux, sed ut testimonium 
perhiberet de lumine. 9 Erat lux vera, 
quae illuminat omnem hominem veni- 
entem in hunc mundum. •" In mundo 
erat, & mundus per ipsum factus est, & 
mundus eum non cognovit. " In pro- 
pria venit, & sui eum non receperunt. 
12 Quotquot autem receperunt eum, 
dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, his, 
qui credunt in nomine ejus : I3 qui non 
ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate 
carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed 
ex Deo nati sunt. l*Et verbum caro 
factum est, & habitavit in nobis : & 
vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi 
unigeniti a patre, plenum gratia, & ve- | 
ritate. 



Erasmus's Version. 

1 In principio erat sermo, et sermo erat 
apud deum, et deus erat ille sermo. 

2 Hie erat in principio apud deum. 

3 Omnia per ipsum facta sunt : et sine 
eo factum est nihil, quod factum est. 
In ipso uita erat, 4 et uita erat lux 
hominum, 5 et lux in tenebris lucet, 
et tenebrae earn non apprehenderunt. 

6 Erat homo missus a deo, cui nomen 
Ioannes. 7 Hie uenit ad testificandum, 
ut testaretur de luce, ut omnes cre- 
derent per ipsum. 8 Non erat ille lux 
ilia, sed missus erat ut testaretur de 
luce. 9 Erat lux ilia, lux uera : quae il- 
luminat omnem hominem uenientem in 
mundum. 10 In mundo erat, et mundus 
per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum 
non cognouit. "In sua uenit, et sui 
eum non receperunt. ' 2 Quotquot au- 
tem receperunt eum, dedit eis ut liceret 
filios dei fieri, uidelicet his qui credidis- 
sent in nomen ipsius. 13 Qui non ex 
sanguinibus, neque ex uoluntate carnis, 
neque ex uoluntate uiri, sed ex deo 
nati sunt. 14 Et sermo ille caro factus 
est, et habitauit in nobis : et conspexi- 
mus gloriam eius, gloriam uelut uni- 
geniti a patre : plenus gratia et ueri- 
tate. 



Beza's Version. 

1 In principio erat Sermo ille, et Sermo 
ille erat apud Deum, eratque ille Sermo 
Deus. 2 Hie Sermo erat in principio 
apud Deum. 3 Omnia per hunc Ser- 
monem facta sunt, et absque eo factum 
est nihil quod factum sit. 4 In ipso vita 
erat, et vita erat Lux ilia hominum. 
5 Et Lux ista in tenebris lucet, sed 
tenebrae earn non comprehenderunt. 

6 Exstitit homo missus a Deo, cui 
nomen Joannes. 1 Is venit ad dandum 
testimonium, id est, ut testaretur de ilia 
Luce, ut omnes per eum crederent. 
8 Non erat ille Lux ilia, sed missus fuit 
ut testaretur de ilia Luce. 9 Hie erat 
Lux ilia vera quae illuminat omnem 
hominem venientem in mundum. I0 In 
mundo erat, et mundus per eum factus 
est ; sed mundus eum non agnovit. 
11 Ad sua venit, et sui eum non excepe- 
runt. I2 Quotquot autem eum excepe- 
runt, dedit eis hoc jus, ut filii Dei sint 
facti, nempe iis qui credunt in nomen 
ejus : 13 Qui non ex sanguine, neque ex 
libidine carnis, neque ex libidine viri, 
sed ex Deo geniti sunt. 14 Et Sermo 
ille factus est caro, et commoratus est 
inter nos, (et spectavimus gloriam ejus, 
gloriam, inquam, ut unigeniti, egressi 
a Patre,) plenus gratiae ac veritatis. 



Several important Latin versions, comprising only the New Testament, have been executed from 
the Greek text. The first of these, in point of time, is that of Erasmus, which was published at Basle, 
in 1516, with the Greek text. It contained a dedicatory epistle to Pope Leo X., and was highly 
commended by that pontiff; yet it was regarded with great hostility by the members of the Koman 
Catholic Church, and, on its first appearance, excited much opposition. Erasmus drew his version not 
only from printed copies of the Greek Testament, but also from four Greek MSS., and in the rendering 
of several passages, he consulted the ecclesiastical writers. He does not, however, make any notable 
departures from the Vulgate, and wherever he felt compelled to deviate in any degree from that version, 
he assigned his reasons for so doing in the notes which accompany his work. The version of Beza is 
bolder and more faithful than that of Erasmus, and does not betray the same timid adherence to the 
Vulgate. It has been greatly condemned in consequence by Koman Catholics, but it is generally 
preferred by Protestants to all other Latin versions. Its style is clear and simple, but its chief excellence 
consists in its accurate and exact interpretation of the sacred original. 

Thalemann published another Latin version of the Gospels and Acts in 1781, and Jaspis completed 
the work by translating and publishing the Epistles in 1793-1797 at Leipsic. In 1790, a version of 
the entire New Testament was published at Leipsic by Reichard. A translation, professedly executed 
from the Alexandrine text, was published by Sebastiani, London, 1817; but it is well known that this 
editor merely followed the common Greek text. The versions of Schott, Naebe, and Goeschen, were 
printed as accompaniments to critical editions of the New Testament: they all appeared at Leipsic; 
that of Schott in 1805, that of Naebe in 1831, and that of Goeschen in 1832. 



IV — RESULTS OF THE PEItUSAL OF THE LATIN VULGATE. 

Although this version is confessedly at fault in some of its renderings, yet it has been used by the 
Holy Spirit as the means of leading many to the knowledge of salvation. It was from this version that 
Luther, in the first instance, drew his supplies of strength and consolation, and the same may be said 
of most of the servants of God during the middle ages, when comparatively few versions in other Ian- 



Class III.] 



LATIN. 



253 



Castalio's Version. 

1 In principio erat sermo, et sermo erat 
apud Deum, et Deus erat is sermo : 

2 is erat in principio apud Deum. 

3 Omnia per eum facta sunt, et absque 
eo factum est nihil, quod factum sit. 

4 In eo vita erat, et vita erat lux ho- 
minum, 5 et lux in tenebris lucet, nee 
earn comprehenderunt tenebrae. 

6 Fuit homo missus h, Deo, nomine 
Johannes. 7 Is venit ob testimonium, ut 
de luce testaretur, ut omnes per eum cre- 
derent. 8 Non erat ille ipsa lux, sed qui 
de luce testaretur. 9 Erat ipsa vera lux, 
quae collustrat omnem hominem veniens 
inmundum. 10 Inmundoerat,etmundus 
per eum factus fuit, et mundus eum non 
cognovit. ' ' In sua venit, et sui eum 
non acceperunt. I2 Quicunque autem 
eum acceperunt, iis earn potestatem 
dedit, ut Dei filii fierent, fidem haben- 
tibus ejus nomini : 13 qui non ex san- 
guine, nee ex voluntate carnis, nee ex 
voluntate viri, sed ex Deo geniti sunt. 



14 Et sermo caro factus est, et apud 
nos gratiae veritatisque plenus habi- 
tavit : ej usque splendorem, ut unigenae 
a patre splendorem aspeximus. 



Schmidt's Version. 

' In principio erat Verbum : et Verbum 
illud erat apud Deum ; et Deus erat 
illud Verbum. 2 Hoc erat in principio 
apud Deum. 3 Omnia per illud facta- 
sunt : et sine illo factum-est ne unum 
quidem, quod factum-est. 4 In ipso vita 
erat : et vita erat lux ilia hominum. 
5 Et Lux ilia in tenebris lucet: sed 
tenebrae earn non comprehenderunt. 

6 Fuit homo missus a Deo: nomen ei 
erat Johannes. 7 Hie venit ad testifi- 
cationem, nempe ut testaretur de ilia 
Luce, ut omnes crederent per eum. 
8 Non erat ille Lux ea ; sed missus erat, 
ut testaretur de ea Luce. 9 Hoc Verbum 
erat Lux ilia vera, quae illuminat om- 
nem hominem venientem in mundum. 
10 In mundo erat: et mundus per ipsum 
factus-est : et mundus ilium non cog- 
novit. " In sua venit: sed sui eum non 
receperunt. I2 Quotquot autem suscepe- 
runt eum, dedit eis hoc-jus, ut-fierent 
Filii Dei, nempe Mis, qui-credunt in 
nomen ejus. I3 Qui non ex sanguinibus, 
neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex 
voluntate viri, sed ex Deo geniti-sunt. 

1 4 Et Verbum illud caro factum-est : et 
tanquam-in-tabernaculo-habitavit inter 
nos, (et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam 
quasi unigeniti a Patre,) plenum gratiae 
et veritatis. 



Sebastian's Version. 

1 In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum 
erat apud Deum, et Verbum erat Deus. 

2 Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. 

3 Omnia per ipsum facta sunt ; et sine 
ipso nihil quicquam factum est ejus, 
quod factum est. 4 In ipso erat vita, 
et vita erat lux hominum ; 5 Et lux 
lucet in tenebris, et tenebrae earn non 
comprehenderunt. 

6 Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen 
erat Johannes. 1 Hie venit in testimo- 
nium, ut testaretur de luce, et ut omnes 
crederent per eum. 8 Non erat ille lux, 
sed missus fuer at, ut testimonium-perhi- 
beret de luce. 9 Erat vera lux, quae illu- 
minat omnem hominem venientem in 
mundum. I0 Ipse erat in mundo, et mun- 
dus per ipsum factus est ; sed mundus 
eum non cognovit. J ' In domum-suam 
venit, et familiares non receperunt eum ; 
12 Sed quicunque eum receperunt, de- 
dit eis potestatem efficiendi se filios 
Dei, eis videlicet, qui credunt in per- 
sonam ejus: 13 Qui non ex humanis- 
parentibus, neque ex carnali libidine, 
neque ex voluntate hominis; sed ex 
Deo nati sunt. 

14 Et verbum factum est homo, habi- 
tavitque inter nos plenum gratiae et 
veritatis ; et vidimus gloriam ejus, ut 
gloriam filii-unigeniti a patre. 



guages were in existence. Our earlier translations, so eminently blessed in bringing in the Reformation 
were derived immediately from the Vulgate. 

It was the prohibition of the Scriptures to the laity, and not merely the exclusive use of this 
version, which was the crying evil of the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop Bedell, in one of his letters, 
tells us that he once heard a monk preaching from the text, "What is truth?" After a good deal of 
elaborate discussion, the preacher drew somewhat cautiously from his pocket a copy of the New Testa- 
ment, and said, "This only shall I say: I have found truth at last within the leaves of this book; but," 
added he, replacing it coolly, " it is prohibited." 



Schott's Version. 

1 Initio (omnium) fuit Logos ; Logos apud Deum fuit ; 
Deusque fuit Logos. 2 Hie initio fuit apud Deum. 3 Omnia 
per eum facta sunt, et absque eo factum est ne ullum quidem, 
quod factum est. 4 In eo vita fuit (et vitae fons), quae vita lux 
fuit (fons lucis) hominum. 5 Lucetque lux inter tenebras, nee 
earn tenebrae comprehenderunt. 6 Exstitit homo a Deo missus, 
nomine Joannes. 7 Is venit testimonium daturus, ut testaretur 
de luce, ut omnes per eum fidem haberent (lucis auctori). 

8 Non erat ille ipsa lux ; sed (missus), ut testaretur de luce. 

9 Erat (ilia) lux verissima (perfectissima), collustrans quemvis 
hominem, qui in mundum venit (nascitur). 10 In mundo fuit 
(Logos), mundusque per eum factus est, nee vero mundus 
eum agnovit. ' l Ad sua (veluti domum suam) venit, nee sui 
eum exceperunt. I2 At, quotquot eum exceperunt, iis hano dedit 
potestatem, ut liberi fierent Dei, fidem eius nomini habentibus, 
13 qui, non ex sanguine neque ex voluntate (libidine) carnis 
neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo sunt geniti. 14 Atque 
Logos factus est came praeditus, et tentorium fixit (commoratus 
est) apud nos [spectavimusque eius gloriam, qualis est gloria 
filii unigeniti a patre oriundi] plenus gratiae et veritatis. 



Goeschen's Version. 

1 In principio erat logos, et logos erat apud deum, et 
deus erat logos. 2 Hie erat in principio apud deum. 
3 Omnia per eum facta sunt; ac sine eo nihil unum 
factum est, quod factum est. 4 In eo vita erat, ac vita 
erat lux hominum ; 5 et lux in tenebris lucet, ac tene- 
brae earn non comprehenderunt. 6 Fuit homo missus a 
deo, cui Ioannis nomen ; 1 hie venit ad testimonium, ut 
de luce testaretur, ut omnes eius causa (auctoritate) 
crederent 8 Non erat ille lux, sed ut de luce testaretur. 
9 Erat lux ilia vera, qua illustratur omnis homo, in 
mundum veniens. 10 In mundo erat, et mundus per 
eum factus est, et mundus eum non novit. n In sua 
venit, et sui non exceperunt eum. 12 Quotcunque autem 
exceperunt eum, eis, credentibus in eius nomen, facul- 
tatem dedit ut filii dei fierent ; ' 3 qui non ex sanguinibus, 
neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex viri voluntate, sed 
ex deo nati sunt. li Et logos caro factus est, et com- 
moratus est inter nos (et vidimus maiestatem eius, 
maiestatem ut unigeniti a patre), plenus gratia ac 
veritate. 



254 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

FEENCH. 

SPECIMEN, EKOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14, 

Au commencement etait la Parole, et la Parole etait avec Dieu, et la Parole etait Dieu. 
2 Elle etait au commencement avec Dieu. 3 Toutes choses ont ete faites par elle, et sans 
elle rien de ce qui a ete fait, n'a ete fait. 4 En elle etait la vie, et la vie etait la lumiere 
des hommes. 5 Et la lumiere luit dans les tenebres, mais les tenebres ne l'ont point 
comprise. 6 Il y eut un homme appele Jean, qui fut envoye de Dieu. 7 II vint pour 
rendre temoignage, pour rendrc, dis-je, temoignage a la Lumiere, afm que tous crussent 
par lui. 8 II n'etait pas la Lumiere, mais il etait envoye pour rendre temoignage a la 
Lumiere. 9 Cette Lumiere etait la veritable, qui eclaire tout homme venant au monde. 
10 Elle etait au monde, et le monde a ete fait par elle ; mais le monde ne l'a point connue. 
11 II est venu chez soi ; et les siens ne Font point recu. 12 Mais a tous ceux qui l'ont recu, 
il leur a donne le droit d'etre faits enfans de Dieu, savoir a ceux qui croient en son nom ; 
13 Lesquels ne sont point nes de sang, ni de la volonte de la chair, ni de la volonte de 
l'homme ; mais ils sont nes de Dieu. 14 Et la Parole a ete faite chair; elle a habite 
parmi nous, et nous avons contemple sa gloire, qui a ete une gloire, comme la gloire du 
Fils unique du Pere, pleine de grace et de verite. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The French language is predominant throughout France, except (as is elsewhere stated) in part of 
Brittany and in the Basque districts: German dialects prevail, more or less, in Upper and Lower 
Rhine, and in some of the other departments along the eastern frontier. . The total population of 
France, in 1856, amounted to 36,039,364. The great majority of the French people belong to the 
Eoman Catholic Church; but certain sects among them, while they adhere to Roman Catholic 
doctrines, repudiate the authority of the Pope. Toleration is so freely extended to all parties, that 
pastors and teachers of every denomination, Jewish as well as Christian, are considered entitled to 
support from the state. According to the census of 1851, the population of France (then numbering 
35,781,627) was divided into 34,931,032 Roman Catholics; 748,332 members of the Reformed and 
Lutheran Churches; 73,995 Jews; 26,328 members of other churches; the rest being returned' under 
the head of "religion unknown." The French language is spoken in parts of Switzerland and in the 
Channel Islands; and is in frequent use, as a medium of communication, between people of different 
nations, in almost every country of Europe. In the colonies, however, it is incomparably less diffused 
than the English. It is extensively spoken in Louisiana and the French Antilles, and particularly 
in Lower Canada, where a vast majority of the people are of French origin. The primitive habits of 
the original settlers are still retained ; and it is said that the French language itself is there preserved 
precisely in the same state as it existed in the days of Louis XIV. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS AND HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Three principal languages, the Aquitainian, the Celtic, and the Belgic, were spoken in Gaul at 
the time of the Roman invasion of that country. These languages, particularly the Celtic, which was 
the most widely diffused, commingled with the language of the Roman legions, and formed a new 
language, which, from the predominance of Roman words and elements, was called the Romance. 
The stock of words entering into the Ron.ance language was augmented by the addition of numerous 
Greek words, chiefly sea-terms, borrowed from Marseilles, then a Greek colony. 



Class III.] FRENCH. 255 

In the fifth century, Gaul passed into the hands of Teutonic nations : the Visigoths occupied the 
south, while the Franks and Burgundians established themselves in the north and east. Ultimately the 
Franks extended their dominion throughout the whole country; but, being few in number, their 
language exercised little perceptible influence. The Komance, therefore, still continued to be the 
language of Gaul; and, about the tenth century, it seems to have diverged into two principal dialects, 
the langue doc, spoken in the south, and the langue aVoil or doui, spoken in the north. During the 
thirteenth century, the langue d'oil became the language of the court and capital of France, and 
gradually superseded the langue d'oc. Originally, the differences between the two dialects were few 
and inconsiderable; but by degrees the langue doil dropped many of its ancient terminations, acquired 
new and distinctive peculiarities, and finally merged into the language which, from the Franks, the 
Teutonic conquerors of Gaul, is now denominated the French. 

Thus the history of the French language proves that it may be regarded as a direct emanation 
from the Latin; and yet, of all the Neo-Latin languages, it differs the most widely from the parent 
stock. It has a singular habit of contracting the Latin words which enter into its composition : this 
it often effects by omitting one of the internal consonants: thus, ligare, in French, is converted into 
Her, laudare into louer, sudare into suer. On the other hand, it generally lengthens the a of the Latin 
into ai; as in ala, aile — amo, airne — panis, pain — pax, paix, &c. The w of Teutonic nations becomes 
gu in French; as in wasp, guepe — JFilliam, Crwillaume, &c. In point of construction, French is 
remarkable for its clearness and uniformity; and its idiomatical phrases are particularly concise and 
expressive: it is hence admirably adapted for conversational and epistolary purposes, and also for 
commercial and diplomatic negociation. Yet, with all these advantages of structure, it is most difficult 
to convert the French language into a vehicle of theological ideas; and we are told, that "all trans- 
lators and editors of the Scriptures in this language have found themselves embarrassed between the 
choice of a literal version, which makes the language barbarous, and an idiomatical one, which 
degenerates into paraphrase." 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

Owing, perhaps, to the extreme difficulty of producing a faithful and satisfactory French version, 
the attempts that have been made to translate the Scriptures into this language are particularly 
numerous. The first translation of which we have any definite account is ascribed to the twelfth 
century; and portions of it, with other ancient writings, were published at Paris, in 1842, by Leroux 
de Lincy, under the title of " The Four Books of Kings." A translation is extant of all the 
epistles and gospels of the Latin Missal, executed by De Vignay, at the request of Jane of Burgundy, 
queen of Philip of Valois, king of France: the MS. is in the library of the Convent of St. Dominic, 
at Paris. The Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor, which is a popular compendium of scriptural 
history was translated by Guiars des Moulins, between the years 1291 and 1294, and several MS. 
copies are preserved in the Eoyal Library at Paris: this work, which is generally known as " La Bible 
Historiale," was printed by command of Charles VIII. of France, in 1487. Among the Lansdowne 
MSS. in the British Museum, is a fine copy of a translation of the Bible as far as the Psalms, executed 
by Eaoul de Presles, by command of Charles V. of France. 

All these translations were superseded by a version of the entire Scriptures published at Antwerp, 
in consecutive portions, between the years 1512 and 1530, by Jaques le Fevre of Estaples, commonly 
called Jacobus Faber, Stapulensis. Faber translated from the Latin Vulgate, which he has followed 
so closely that many of his passages appear obscure. This version is the basis of all other French 
versions, Protestant as well as Catholic, which have since been published: it was reprinted in 1534 
and 1541 ; and was revised and published by the divines of Louvain in 1550. 

The following is a list of the principal translations of the Scriptures into French which have 
appeared since the publication of Faber's version : — 

1535. Olivetan's version of the entire Scriptures, translated from the original texts, and printed 



256 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



[Class III. 



1555. 



1641. 



at Neufchatel, and again, in 1540, at Geneva, with corrections by his relative, the 
celebrated reformer, Calvin. The so-called versions of Benat Benoist (1566), of Besse 
(1608), and of Frizon (1620), are merely editions of this version, with slight altera- 
tions. Several other revisions have been published; but, of these, by far the most 
important is the one familiarly known as the " Geneva Bible." It appeared at Geneva 
in 1588, after having been corrected by the College of Pastors and Professors of the 
Eeformed Church at Geneva (Beza, Goulart, Jaquemot, Bertram, La Faye, and Botan). 
The individuals engaged in tins revision are said to have consulted the rabbinical 
writers, and the Latin versions of Munster and Tremellius, besides the sacred originals: 
they succeeded in imparting a greater degree of elegance and precision to the language, 
and corrected some of the errors of Olivetan. 

Castalio published a French translation of his own Latin version; but this work scarcely 
deserves a place in the list of French versions, as it is disfigured by serious errors, and 
never rose into repute. Castalio is even charged with having invented French words, 
for the purpose, as he thought, of expressing the full force of the Greek. In 1562, a 
translation was published, in French, of Diodati's Italian version. 

A translation of the entire Bible from the Vulgate, executed by Corbin, advocate of the 



Le Fevre's Version. 

1 Av commencement estoit la pa- 
rolle, et la parolle estoit auec dieu: 
et la parolle estoit dieu. 2 Icelle 
estoit au commencement auec dieu. 
3 Toutes choses ont este faictes par 
icelle : et sans icelle riens na este 
faict qui ait este faict. 4 En icelle 
estoit la vie : et la vie estoit la lu- 
miere des hommes : 5 et la lumiere 
luyt es tenebres : et les tenebres ne 
lont point comprinse. 

6 Ung homme fut enuoye de dieu : 
qui estoit nomme Jehan. 7 Lestuy 
vint en tesmoignage, pour rendre 
tesmoignage de la lumiere : affin 
que tous creussent par icelle. 8 Les- 
tuy nestoit point la lumiere : mais 
affin quil rendisse tesmoignage de 
la lumiere. 9 La vraye lumiere estoit 
celle qui enlumine tout homme ve- 
nant en ce monde. 10 Elle estoit au 
monde, et le monde est faict par 
elle: et le monde ne la point cong- 
neue. u Elle est venue es choses que 
estoient siennes : et les siens ne lont 
point receue. 12 Mais tous ceulx 
qui lont receue, elle leur a donne 
puissance destre fais les filz de dieu, 
iceulx creans en son nom. I3 les- 
quels ne de sangz, ne par voulente 
de chair, ne par voulente dhomme : 
mais sont nez de dieu. 

14 Et la parolle est faicte chair : 
et a habite en nous, et auons veu sa 
gloire, gloire comme de celluy qui 
est seul ne du pere, plaine de grace 
et de verite. 



Olivetan's Version. 

1 Ait commencement estoit la pa- 
rolle, et la parolle estoit auec Dieu : 
et Dieu estoit la parolle. 2 Icelle 
estoit au commencement auec Dieu. 
3 Toutes choses ont este faictes par 
icelle : et sans icelle rien na este 
faict, de ce qui est faict. 4 En icelle 
estoit la vie : et la vie estoit la lu- 
miere des hommes, 5 et la lumiere 
luyt es tenebres, et les tenebres ne 
lont pas comprinse. 

6 Ung homme fut enuoye de Dieu, 
qui auoit nom Jehan. 7 Lestuy est 
venu en tesmoingnage, a ce quil 
rendist tesmoingnage de la lumiere : 
affin que tous creussent par icelle. 
8 Lestuy nestoit pas la lumiere, 
mais affin quil tesmoingnast de la 
lumiere. 9 Celle estoit la vraye lu- 
miere qui enlumine tout homme 
venant au monde. 10 Elle estoit au 
monde : et le monde est faict par 
elle : et le monde ne la point cong- 
neue. u Elle est venue es choses 
qui estoient siennes : et les siens 
ne lont pas receue. 12 Mais tous 
ceulx qui lont receue : elle leur a 
donne puissance destre faictz enfans 
de Dieu, ascauoir a ceulx qui croyent 
en son nom: ,3 Lesquelz ne de sang, 
ne de volunte de chair, ne de vo- 
lunte dhomme : mais de Dieu sont 
naiz. 

14 Et la parolle est faicte chair, et 
a habite en nous (et auons con- 
temple sa gloire, gloire comme de 
celuy, qui est seul nay du pere) 
pleine de grace et de verite. 



Geneva Version. 

1 Av commencement estoit la Pa- 
role, & la Parole estoit auec Dieu : 
& icelle Parole estoit Dieu. 2 Elle 
estoit au commencement auec Dieu. 
3 Toutes choses ont este faites par 
elle : & sans elle rien n'a este fait de 
ce qui est fait. 4 En elle estoit la vie, 
& la vie estoit la lumiere des hom- 
mes. 5 Et la lumiere luites tenebres, 
& les tenebres ne l'ont point com- 
prise. 

6 II y eut vn homme enuoye de 
Dieu, qui auoit nom lean. 7 Ces- 
tuy-ci vint pour porter tesmoignage, 
a ce qu'il rendit tesmoignage de la 
Lumiere, a fin que tous creussent 
par luy. 8 II n'estoit pas la Lumiere, 
mais estoit pour tesmoigner de la 
Lumiere. 9 La vraye Lumiere estoit 
celle qui illumine tout homme 
venant au monde. 10 II estoit au 
monde, & le monde a este fait 
par luy, & le monde ne l'a point 
cognu. "11 est venu chez soy: 
& les siens ne l'ont point receu. 
12 Mais a tous ceux qui l'ont receu, 
il leur a donne ce droict d'estre faits 
enfans de Dieu, a scauoir, a ceux qui 
croyent en son Nom. 13 Lesquels 
ne sont point nais de sang ne de 
volonte de la chair, ne de volonte 
de l'homme : mais sont nais de 
Dieu. 

14 Et ceste Parole a este faite 
chair, & a habite entre nous (& 
auons contemple sa gloire : gloire, 
di-ie, comme de l'vnique issu du 
Pere) plein de grace & de verite. 



Class III.] 



FRENCH. 



257 



1649. 



1666. 



Parliament of Paris, and published with tlie approbation of the Faculty of Theology of 
Poitiers. The modes of expression adopted in this translation are rude and barbarous, 
and it has long sunk into disrepute. 

De Marolles published a New Testament, professedly translated from the original; but, as 
he did not understand the Greek language, it is believed that he merely made a 
translation of Erasmus's Latin Testament, which was drawn immediately from the 
Greek text. In some places he seems to have conformed to the Vulgate. 

Father Amelotte published a translation of the New Testament, which is well known to 
have been executed from the Vulgate, although he pretended that he had consulted 
Greek MSS. of the highest antiquity. This version is far from being faithful or 
accurate: he often uses great circumlocution, and in many instances inserts words 
which are not in the original, without writing them in Italics. 



De Sacy's Version. 

1 Au commencement etoit le Verbe, 

6 le Verbe etoit avec Dieu, & le 
Verbe etoit Dieu. 2 II etoit au com- 
mencement avec Dieu. 3 Toutes 
choses ont ete faites par lui : & rien 
de ce qui a ete fait n'a ete fait 
sans lui. 4 Dans lui etoit la vie, & 
la vie etoit la lumiere des hommes: 

5 & la lumiere luit dans les tene- 
bres, & les tenebres ne l'ont point 
comprise. 6 11 y eut un homme en- 
voye de Dieu, qui s'appelloit Jean. 

7 II vint pour servir de temoin, pour 
rendre temoignage a. la lumiere, 
afln que tous crussent par lui. 8 II 
n'etoit pas la lumiere : mais il vint 
pour rendre temoignage, a. celui qui 
etoit la lumiere. 9 Celui-la. etoit la 
vraie lumiere, qui illumine tout 
bomme venant en ce monde. 10 II 
etoit dans le monde, & le monde a 
ete fait par lui, & le monde ne l'a 
point connu. n II est venu chez soi, 

6 les siens ne font point recu. 
12 Mais il a donne a tous ceux qui 
l'ont recu, le pouvoir d'etre faits 
enfans de Dieu, a. ceux qui croyent 
en son nom : 13 qui ne sont point 
nes du sang, ni de la volonte de la 
cbair, ni de la volonte de l'homme, 
mais de Dieu meme. H Et le Verbe 
a ete fait chair, & il a habite parmi 
nous : & nous avons vu sa gloire, 
sa gloire, dis-je, comme du Fils 
unique du Pere, etant plein de 
grace & de verite. 



Qstervaxd's Version. 

1 La Parole etoit au commencement, 
la Parole etoit avec Dieu, et cette 
Parole etoit Dieu. 2 Elle etoit au 
commencement avec Dieu. 3 Toutes 
choses ont ete faites par elle, et 
rien de ce qui a ete fait, n'a ete fait 
sans elle. 4 C'est en elle qu'etoit 
la vie, et la vie etoit la lumiere des 
hommes. 5 Et la lumiere luit dans 
les tenebres, et les tenebres ne l'ont 
point recue. 6 11 y eut un homme, 
appele Jean, qui fut envoye de Dieu. 
7 II vint pour etre temoin et pour 
rendre temoignage de la lumiere, 
afin que tous crussent par lui. 8 II 
n'etoit pas lui-meme la^ lumiere, 
mais il etoit envoye pour rendre te- 
moignage a la lumiere. 9 C'etoit la 
veritable lumiere qui eclaire tous 
les hommes, en venant au monde. 
10 Elle etoit dans le monde, et le 
monde a ete fait par elle ; mais le 
monde ne l'a pas connue. n II est 
venu chez soi : et les siens ne font 
point recu. n Mais a. tous ceux qui 
l'ont recu, il leur a donne le droit 
d'etre faits enfans de Dieu, savoir, a 
ceux qui croient en son nom; 13 qui 
ne sont point nes du sang, ni de la 
volonte de la chair, ni de la volonte 
de l'hbmme, mais qui sont nes de 
Dieu. u Et la Parole a ete faite 
chair, et a habite parmi nous, et 
nous avons vu sa gloire, une gloire 
telle qu'est celle du Fils unique du 
Pere, pleine de grace et de verite. 



Swiss Version'. 

1 Air commencement etait la Pa- 
role ; et la Parole etait aupres de 
Dieu ; et la Parole etait Dieu. 2 Elle 
etait au commencement aupres de 
Dieu. 3 Toutes, choses ont ete faites 
par son moyen, et rien de ce qui a 
ete fait n'a ete fait sans elle. 4 En 
elle etait la vie, et la vie etait la lu- 
miere des hommes. 5 Et la lumiere 
luit dans les tenebres, et les tenebres 
ne l'ont point recue. 6 II y eut un 
homme envoye de Dieu ; son nom 
etait Jean; 7 II vint en temoignage, 
pour rendre temoignage de la lumi- 
ere, afin que tous crussent par son 
moyen. 8 Lui n'etait pas la lumiere, 
mais il etait pour rendre temoignage 
de la lumiere. 9 La veritable lumi- 
ere qui eclaire tout homme etait ve- 
nue dans le monde. 10 Elle etait 
dans le monde, et le monde a ete fait 
par son moyen, et le monde ne l'a 
pas connue. n Elle est venue chez 
soi, et les siens ne l'ont point recue, 
12 Mais, a tous ceux qui l'ont recue, 
elle leur a donne le droit de devenir 
enfants de Dieu, a ceux qui croient 
en son nom, lesquels ont ete en- 
gendres non du sang, ni de la 
volonte de la chair, ni de la volonte 
de l'homme, mais de Dieu. 14 Et la 
Parole a ete faite chair, et elle a 
dresse sa tente parmi nous, pleine 
de gr&ce et de verite, et nous avons 
contemple sa gloire, gloire comme 
du fils unique de la part du Pere. 



1667. The celebrated version of the New Testament from the Vulgate, by De Sacy and other 
Port-Royalists, was printed by the Elzevirs, at Amsterdam, for Migeot, a bookseller of 
Mons; whence it is often called the Mons Testament. It appeared under the approbation 
of Cardinal Noailles, and it is still held in high repute, and has passed through many 
editions. De Sacy was confessor to the Society of Port Royal; he was involved in the 
persecution raised against that Society by the Jesuits, and was thrown into the Bastille 

18 



258 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

in 1666. It was here, during his confinement for two years and a half, that he under- 
took his translation of the Bible. He finished the entire version of both Testaments on 
the Eve of All Saints, 1668, the day of his liberation from imprisonment. His version 
has often been condemned by the Jesuits as too favourable to Protestantism, but in 
France it is generally regarded as " the most perfect version in French, or in any other 
tongue." De Sacy's character as a translator has been thus drawn: — "In a critical 
knowledge of the sacred text, he may have had many superiors; but none in that 
exquisite sensibility to the grandeur, the pathos, the superhuman wisdom, and the awful 
purity of the divine original, without which none can truly apprehend, or accurately 
render into another idiom, the sense of the inspired writers." 

1668. Godeau, bishop of Vence, published at Paris another version of the New Testament from 
the Vulgate: it is neither a literal translation nor a paraphrase, but partakes of the 
nature of both. 

1671-1680. Quesnel executed a translation of the New Testament from the Vulgate, taking as 
a basis that of De Sacy, and appending Moral Reflections, which have been translated 
and published in English. 

1686. A New Testament, wilfully falsified to agree with Eoman Catholic dogmas, was published 
at Bordeaux, by the Jesuits, and was intended for those Protestants who, after the 
revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 1685, had been compelled, by torture and other 
means, to embrace the Roman Catholic religion. Nearly the whole of this edition is 
supposed to have been destroyed, yet no fewer than nine copies are known to be still 
in existence in England and Ireland. 

1696-1707. Martin revised the Geneva Bible, and rendered it more conformable in point of 
style to the modern idiom. Martin was a native of Languedoc, and exercised the 
duties of pastor in that part of France, till he was exiled by the revocation of the edict 
of Nantes. He then settled in Utrecht, as the pastor of the Walloon church in that 
city; he died in 1721. A revision of Martin's Bible was executed by Pierre Roques, 
pastor of the French church at Basle: it was published in 1772: other editions have 
been given elsewhere, and in 1820 this version was again carefully revised at Paris, and 
afterwards stereotyped at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 

1697-1703. The Jesuits Bouhours, Tellier, and Bernier, published another version of the New 
Testament from the Vulgate; but this version, together with that of Hure (also from 
the Vulgate, and printed in 1702), has long sunk into oblivion. 

1702. Father Simon, the celebrated author of some critical histories of the text and versions of 
Scripture, made a translation of the New Testament from the Vulgate : it was translated 
into English by Mr. Webster, in 1730. 

1709. The Bible, translated chiefly from the Vulgate, but with corrections from the original 
Hebrew, and from some of the more ancient versions, was published by Le Gros, at 
Cologne. It was reprinted at Brussels in 1759, and at Paris in 1819. 

1718. A Protestant version of the New Testament, remarkable for its closeness and accuracy, 
was executed from the original text by Beausobre and L'Enfant, and published at 
Amsterdam. An English translation of the preliminary dissertation and of the gospel 
of Matthew, belonging to this version, was printed at Cambridge in 1779. 

1724. Ostervald, a pastor of the Lutheran church at Neufchatel, published an edition of the 
Geneva Bible, with notes: in 1744 he published another edition, with many corrections 
and emendations. His corrections, it has been observed, "have so far modernised the 
style, as to render this version far more elegant and idiomatic than that of Martin ; but 
it is rather paraphrastical, and not so rigidly conformed to the originals." 

1741. A translation of the entire Bible, by Le Cene, was published by his son, a bookseller of 



Class III.] FRENCH. 259 

Amsterdam ; but, on account of its Socinian tendency, it never rose into much repute. 
The same may be said of Le Clerc's version of the New Testament, which was also 
published at Amsterdam. 
1820-1824. Genoude published a translation of the Bible, executed mainly from the Vulgate, 
and written in pure and elegant language. This is a Roman Catholic version, and is in 
every respect conformed to the dogmas of that church. 
1822. The Bible Society for the Canton-de-Vaud, after an uninterrupted labour of four years, 
published a revised edition of 10,000 copies of the entire French Scriptures. The 
revision was conducted by four clergymen, who availed themselves of the researches of 
oriental scholars, and of various critical aids that did not exist when Martin (and, after 
him, Ostervald) revised the old version of Olivetan. Many errors, however, crept into 
this version, which were pointed out by Mr. Haldane, and in consequence of these 
inaccuracies, and of notes appended to it, it was repudiated by the parent Society. 
1839. The Lausanne revision of the Scriptures was published by an association of Swiss 
ministers of the gospel at Lausanne. The object of this revision was partly to accom- 
modate the obsolete style of older editions to the modern idiom; but many of the 
emendations partake of the character of a paraphrase. 
A revision of former versions, so carefully corrected as to be essentially a new version, was 
published, (the New Testament in 1842 and the Old Testament in 1850), at Paris, by the Society for 
Promoting Christian Knowledge. The Society was induced to undertake this revision chiefly in con- 
sequence of a statement laid before them in 1835, by which it was shown that no less than four different 
versions of the Holy Scriptures were used indiscriminately in the Channel Islands; and that at least 
ten distinct versions were in use among French Protestants, occasioning much confusion, not to say 
evil, in their churches, schools, and families. Martin's revision was selected by the Society as the 
basis of the new edition, because it approaches the nearest-to the English version. 

Many other corrected editions and re-publications of the French Bible, several of which were 
executed, more or less, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, might be here 
enumerated, did our limits permit. The above list, however, may suffice to indicate the revisions in 
which the emendations are of sufficient importance to claim for them in any degree the character 
of new versions. The only texts circulated by the British and Foreign Bible Society are those of 
Martin, Ostervald, and De Sacy; the latter for the use of Roman Catholics. Ostervald's version is in 
general use among the French Protestants of Switzerland, while the Protestants in the south of France, 
and those of Holland and Belgium, prefer Martin's revision. 

The following specimens, illustrating some of the various provincial dialects of France, will be 
found interesting : — 

IfOEMAIDIAN DIALEC T— 1 SAMUEL, Chap, i, v. 1 to 6, 

FBOM A BOOK ENTITLED, " LES QUATEE LIVEES DES EOIS." 

Uns bers fu ja, en l'antif pople Deu, e out num Helcana ; fiz fud Jeroboam, le fiz 
He'liud, le fiz Thair, le fiz Suf ; e fud de Effrata. 2 Muillers out dous, la plus noble fud 
clamee Anna, e l'altre Phenenna. Phenenna out enfanz plusurs, mais Anna n'en out nul. 

3 En eel cuntemple, fud une cite Sylo, de part Effraim, que Deu out a sun oes saisie e 
sacree. Icest lieu seintefied fud li bers Helchana acustumiers a visiter, pur Deu depreier, 
oblatiuns faire, e sacrifier as jurs asis e par la lei establiz. A cest lieu servir furent dui 
pruveire atitele, Ofni Phinees. Fiz furent Hely, ki dune ert evesche et maistre principals. 

4 E a un jur avint que Helchana fist sacrefise, e, sulune lu lei, a sei retint partie, partie 
dunad a sa cumpaignie. 5 E a Anne sa muiller, que il tendrement amad, une partie 
dunad, ki forment ert deshaitee, kar Deu ne li volt encore duner le fruit desired de sun 
ventre. 



260 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

BURGUNDIAN DIALEC T -RUTH, Chap. i. v. 1 to 5. 

Dan le tam vou c'etoo de Juge qui gouvanein le peuple jui et ansin qu'ein de lo etoo 
an plaice, ai vin dan lai Judee £ne si tarbe fameigne que c'etoo pei qu'antan, et qu'ein 
liaibitan de Betleam s'an-ali d'airo sai fanne et se deu fi male, che le Moaibite por y 
passai ein peclio de tam. 2 Stu-lai s'aipeloo Elimelai, et sai fanne Noemi. Se fi aivein 
nom Maalon et Chelion ; Nel etein de Betleam qu'at an Juda. Etan don venun dans le 
pai de Moaibite el y restire. 3 Elimelai, mairi de Noemi, vin depeii ai meuri. Noemi 
resti d'aivo se deu gar9on. 4 Ai priure po lo fanne de fille du pai, don Tene aivoo nom 
Ruth, et l'autre Orpha. Aipre aivoi vicu diz an aivo lei, ° Maalon et Chelion meurire to 
deu ; et Noemi se trovi tote seul, porce qu'elle aivoo antarri son homme et se deuz anfan. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THE FRENCH VERSION. 

Copies of the French Scriptures, almost too numerous to be within the limits of calculation, have 
been issued, within the last half-century, by the French and Foreign Bible Society, by the Swiss 
Societies, and by other Continental Bible Societies, which have originated from the example, and have 
been assisted by the grants, of the British and Foreign Bible Society. From the Paris dep6t of 
the British and Foreign Bible Society, there had been issued, up to the year 1860, a total of 
3,695,062 copies of the Scriptures; and nineteen-twentieths of the number had been distributed among 
the Roman Catholic portion of the population. The result of these extensive distributions, as collected 
from the details of colporteurs, is a vast accumulation of facts, which could scarcely be comprised 
within the compass of a single volume; and for which, therefore, we must refer our readers to the 
pages of the Reports of the British and Foreign, and other Bible Societies. A late report of 
M. de PreBsense, the agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society in France, is couched in the 
following terms:— "The Lord only knows what amount of good has been produced by so large a 
circulation of his holy Word. What we ourselves have witnessed appears to me to be sufficient to 
convince us that it must be immense. Have not our colporteurs frequently discovered, in localities the 
very names of which were scarcely known, and even in solitary houses, scattered on heaths and moors, 
or buried in the midst of forests, individuals who proved themselves to be awakened and converted — ■ 
true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ — rendered such by the power of the Holy Ghost, infusing life 
and vigour into his written word? Have we not before us a sufficient array of facts to assure us that 
much of the divine seed has not fallen by the wayside, or among thorns and briars? And may we 
not, without exaggeration, declare, to the praise and glory of God, that the work of distributing the 
Scriptures in France has been carried on with the most visible and the most encouraging success?" 

More recently, among other gratifying testimony to the progress of the good work from the 
same quarter, we meet with the following: — " One of our colporteurs writes to me respecting difficulties 
he has to encounter in a certain canton, difficulties of rather an uncommon character. The fact is, the 
people will scarcely allow of his going from house to house from the fear of being altogether deprived 
of his visits; indeed they seem almost inclined to keep him as a kind of prisoner. There are in the 
parishes comprising the district in question, at least a thousand persons, who, in consequence of the 
visits of the colporteurs, will have nothing further to do with popery. The greater number of these 
persons belong to the class of agriculturists, who are in easy circumstances, and they have made 
up their minds to incur sacrifices for the purpose of erecting a Protestant chapel. They already occupy 
a hired room, situated in the most central position. A pastor residing in the neighbourhood occasionally 
visits them, and the meetings which he holds are attended by from 200 to 300 persons, who appear 
to be increasingly growing in their attachment to the Bible." 



Class III.] 



SPANISH. 



261 



SPANISH. 



SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 



Reyna's Version, 

1 En el principio era la Palabra : 
y la Palabra era acerca de Dios : y 
aquella Palabra era Dios. 2 Esta 
era en el principio acerca de Dios. 
3 Todas las cosas por esta fueron 
hechas : y sin ella nada, de lo que 
es hecbo, fue hecho. 4 En ella es- 
tava la vida, y la vida era la luz de 
los hombres. 5 Y la luz en las tinie- 
blas resplandece : mas las tinieblas 
no la comprehendieron. 6 Fue un 
hombre embiado de Dios : el qual 
se llamava Juan. 7 Este vino para 
dar testimonio, para testificar de la 
luz : paraque todos creyessen por 
el. 8 El no era la luz, sino fue em- 
biado paraque diesse testimonio de 
la luz. 9 Era la verdadera luz, que 
alumbra a todo hombre, que viene al 
mundo. 10 En el mundo estava, y el 
mundo fue hecho por el, y el mundo 
no lo conocio. u A lo que era suyo, 
vino. Y los suyos no lo recibieron. 
12 Mas a todos los que lo recibieron, 
dioles potestad de ser hechos hijos 
de Dios, a, los que creen en su nom- 
bre. 13 Los quales no son engen- 
drados de sangres, ni de voluntad 
de carne, ni de voluntad de varon, 
mas de Dios. u Y aquella palabra 
fue hecha carne, y habito entre no- 
sotros : y vimos su gloria, gloria 
como de unigenito del padre, lleno 
de gracia y de verdad. 



Scro's Version. 

1 En el principio era el Verbo, y el 
Verbo era con Dios, y el Verbo era 
Dios. 2 Este era en el principio con 
Dios. 3 Todas las cosas fueron he- 
chas por el : y nada de lo que fue 
hecho, se hizo sin el. 4 En el es- 
taba la vida, y la vida era la luz de 
los hombres. 5 Y la luz en las ti- 
nieblas resplandece ; mas las tinie- 
blas no la comprehendieron. 6 Fue 
un hombre enviado de Dios, que 
tenia por nombre Juan. 7 Este vino 
en testimonio, para dar testimonio 
de la luz, para que creyesen todos 
por el. 8 No era el la luz, sino 
para que diese testimonio de la luz. 
9 Era la luz verdadera, que alumbra 
a. todo hombre, qui viene a este 
mundo. I0 En el mundo estaba, y 
el mundo por el fue hecho, y no le 
conocio el mundo. u A lo suyo 
vino, y los suyos no le recibie- 
ron. 12 Mas a quantos le recibie- 
ron, les dio poder de ser hechos 
hijos de Dios, a aquellos que 
creen en su nombre : 13 Los quales 
son nacidos no de sangres, ni 
de voluntad de carne, ni de volun- 
tad de varon, mas de Dios. u Y 
el Verbo fue hecho carne, y habito 
entre nosotros : y vimos la glo- 
ria de el, gloria como de Unige- 
nito del Padre, lleno de gracia y de 
verdad. 



Amat's Version. 

1 En el principio era el Verbo, y el 
Verbo estaba con Dios, y el Verbo 
era Dios. 2 El estaba en el princi- 
pio con Dios. 3 Por el fueron he- 
chas todas las cosas : y sin el no se 
ha hecho cosa alguna de cuantas 
ban sido hechas. 4 En el estaba la 
vida, y la vida era la luz de los hom- 
bres : 5 Y esta luz resplandece en 
las tinieblas, y las tinieblas no la 
han recibido. 6 Hubo un hombre 
enviado de Dios, que se llamaba 
Juan. 7 Este vino como testigo, 
para dar testimonio de la luz, a fin 
de que por medio de el todos crey- 
esen : 8 No era el la luz, sino en- 
viado para dar testimonio de la luz. 
9 Era la luz verdadera, que alumbra 
a todo hombre que viene a este 
mundo. 10 En el mundo estaba, y el 
mundo fue por el hecho, y el mundo 
no le conocio. n Vino a su propia 
casa, y los suyos ho le recibieron. 
12 Pero a todos los que le recibieron, 
que son los que creen en su nombre, 
dioles poder de llegar a ser hijos de 
Dios : 13 Los cuales no nacen de la 
sangre, ni de la voluntad de la carne, 
ni de la voluntad de hombre, sino que 
nacen de Dios. 14 Y el Verbo se hizo 
carne, y habito en medio de noso- 
tros : y nosotros hemos visto su glo- 
ria, gloria como del unigenito del 
Padre, lleno de gracia y de verdad. 



I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Except in the Basque Provinces, the Spanish language is spoken with remarkably few dialectical 
variations throughout Spain. In the provinces of Catalonia and Valencia, however, as we shall after- 
wards have occasion to mention, a peculiar dialect of this language is in common use. According to the 
census taken in 1857, the population of Spain amounted in that year to 15,850,000. The Spanish 
language is also spoken in the Philippine Islands, and in other Eastern possessions of the Spanish 
crown; but it is most widely diffused in America, where it is still spoken by the descendants of those 
colonists in Mexico and other states which have shaken off the yoke of Spain. The portion of America 
through which this language is diffused comprises a total area of not much less than 4,000,000 square 
miles, with a population that is perhaps little short of 20,000,000. But of this vast territory, the only 
portions now belonging to Spain are the islands of Cuba and Porto Bico, which together comprise an 
area of 45,97.0 square miles, and about 1,500,000 inhabitants, half of whom are negroes. The 
national religion of all countries in which the Spanish language is predominant, is Boman Catholicism. 



262 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Spanish language has, in a great measure, been formed by the commingling of Shemitic and 
Indo-European elements. The Cantabrian, apparently the most ancient language of the Peninsula, 
was nearly swept away when the Eoman legions took possession of the country; and, during several 
centuries, Latin was almost exclusively spoken. The power of the Komans in Spain was eventually 
superseded by that of the Goths, but the Latin language maintained its ground, until it became so 
changed and corrupted by the influence of the Gothic tongue, that it insensibly merged into a new 
dialect. During the long supremacy of the Moors in Spain, and the consequent predominance of the 
Arabic language, this new compound was subjected to further modification by the introduction of 
Arabic terms. 

Yet, notwithstanding this slight amalgamation with the Arabic, Spanish has preserved a closer 
resemblance to the Latin than any of the other Neo-Latin languages. A learned philologist, we are 
told, had once the curiosity to compute the relative number of Spanish and Latin roots, and, according 
to his calculation, there are scarcely four hundred roots in Latin which may not be clearly traced in 
Spanish, while the number of Latin roots which have not passed into French amounts at least to seven 
hundred. Latin words are, however, subjected by the Spanish idiom to the following orthographical 
changes. The vowel o is generally changed into ue, as in dona (Ital. dotina), Sp. duena ; cor, Sp. cuer; 
porta, Sp. puerta : when double consonants occur in Latin words, one is frequently dropped in Spanish ; 
and i is generally placed before e in the interior of words, as in mandimento, Sp. mandimiento, etc. 
Spanish is perhaps the only modern Latin dialect in which the sonorousness, the dignity, and the 
pompous formality of that ancient tongue are fully retained, and it is one of the most beautiful of 
European languages. Charles V. used to say of the five languages he could speak, that Spanish was 
intended for intercourse with God; French with men; Italian with ladies; English with birds; and 
German with horses. Unlike the Latin, however, it is characterised by remarkably strong aspirates, 
the result, doubtless, of the predominance of the Teutonic and Arabic languages during the process 
of its formation. 

IH. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

Spain was furnished at a very early period with versions of the Scriptures in the vernacular 
tongue; but little is known concerning these translations except that some of them are attributed to 
the Albigenses, who had found their way into Spain. Several Spanish MSS. are extant, but in many 
instances no date is affixed to them, and they seem to possess comparatively little interest. As early 
as 1478, a version of the Scriptures was published in the Valencian or Catalonian dialect, of which we 
shall hereafter have occasion to speak. Another class of Spanish translations, executed by and for 
Jews, and written in the peculiar Spanish dialect used by that people, must be reserved for a separate 
notice. The first version printed in the pure Castilian idiom was a translation of the New Testament 
from the original Greek, published at Antwerp in 1543. Enzina, the translator of this work, was by 
birth a Spaniard, but he had spent part of his life in Germany, in company with Melanchthon, and had 
embraced the principles of the Reformation. He dedicated his version to Charles V.; and, on its 
completion, presented it to that monarch. He was, in consequence, thrown into prison at Brussels, 
whence, however, he effected his escape in 1545, and what afterwards befell him is totally unknown. 
His translation adheres with tolerable fidelity to the Greek text, and it is evident that in many instances 
lie consulted and followed Erasmus. An edition of the New Testament with notes, published by 
Perez at Venice, in 1556, is said by Le Long to be merely a revision of Enzina's version. Perez also 
published in 1557, at Venice, a Spanish version of the Psalms from the Hebrew, which he dedicated 
to Mary of Austria, queen of Hungary and Bohemia. 

The first Spanish version of the entire Bible was executed by Cassiodore de Reyna, a Spaniard, 
who, after devoting twelve years to the preparation of the work, published an edition at Basle in 1569, 
with the assistance of several ministers of that city. De Reyna is believed to have been a Protestant, 



Class III.] SPANISH. 263 

although several expressions in his preface, introduced doubtless with a view to conciliate the Catholics, 
might lead us to a contrary supposition. He translated chiefly from the Latin version of Pagninus, 
which he avowedly preferred to all other versions. He also referred continually to the original texts, 
and derived some aid from the Judeo- Spanish version printed at Ferrara. A separate edition of the New 
Testament, with a few slight alterations, was published in 1596, by Cyprian de Valera; and, in 1602, 
a thorough revision of De Reyna's entire version was printed at Amsterdam. This revision was effected 
by means of a diligent comparison of the Spanish version with the original texts, and with other 
translations, particularly with the French version of Geneva. De Valera was fifty years of age when he 
commenced this revision, and he completed it in his seventieth year: he was zealously attached to the 
principles of the Eeformation, and his corrections of De Reyna's text, though not very considerable, 
add greatly to the accuracy and value of the translation. He resided many years in England, and 
graduated at both the universities. His New Testament was reprinted in the Nuremberg Polyglot in 
1599, and another edition appeared at Amsterdam, in 1625. 

In the meantime the original edition of De Reyna's version without the corrections of De Valera 
was re-issued at Frankfort, with a new titlepage, bearing the date 1622. Another new and revised 
edition of De Reyna's New Testament was given by Don Sebastian de la Enzina, at Amsterdam, 
in 1708. 

No edition either of the Old or New Testament seems to have been printed from 1708 till 1793, 
•when Philipe Scio de San Miguel (generally known as Padre Scio) undertook a version of the entire 
Scriptures from the Vulgate. The first edition appeared at Valencia, and was adorned with 300 
engravings, copied from those executed for the Paris edition of De Sacy, which had been published 
about four years previously. Scio published a second edition of his version, in nineteen volumes, at 
Madrid, in 1795-1797; and a third edition, in sixteen volumes, in 1806-1808. These editions were 
accompanied with the Latin text and a commentary; but an edition of 1500 copies was printed in 1795 
at Madrid, without the Vulgate. The total number of copies comprised in these four editions amounted 
only to 6500, and they were printed in a form so large and expensive as to be inaccessible to any but 
the wealthy, and few even of the priests were able to purchase them. 

Another version of the Scriptures from the Vulgate, prepared by Don Felix Torres Amat, bishop 
of Barcelona, was published with notes at Madrid, 1823-1824, in 2 vols. 4to. This version is more 
paraphrastic and less faithful than that of Scio, and is not held in much estimation. A corrected 
edition, prepared with the assistance, and printed under the care, of Sefior Calderon, was published by 
the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, in 1853. 

A new version of the entire Scriptures, prepared by about eight of the priests of Mexico, was 
printed in that country by Ribera, an enterprising publisher, in 1831-1833. This was the first Bible 
ever printed in Spanish America. The expenses of publication were defrayed by subscription: the 
work extends to twenty-five volumes in Spanish 4to., and a folio volume of maps and plates: in 
addition to the Spanish, it comprises the Latin text, with prefaces to all the books, analyses, expo- 
sitions, and dissertations. The translation was made from the French version of Vence, and from the 
Vulgate; but the sacred originals were also consulted, and the passages in which they differ from the 
Vulgate are carefully noted. 

The present diffusion of the Bible in Spain and Spanish America is entirely owing to the efforts of 
the British and Foreign and other Bible Societies. The first editions of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society were printed from Enzina's edition of 1708, and were primarily designed for the benefit of the 
Spanish prisoners of war; but the copies found so rapid a circulation in Spain and in Spanish South 
America, that other and larger editions of 5000 copies each were issued from time to time, according to 
the opportunities for distributing them. From the reluctance of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
in the early period of its history, to print any Catholic version of the Scriptures, it was long before 
any other version was issued except that of Enzina. In fact, the Society has always printed the modern 
translations from the Vulgate rather from necessity than choice, and solely for the sake of the Roman 



264 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

Catholic nations of Europe and America, who in some instances have refused to receive other versions. 
At length, in 1820, in consequence of the representations and example of the American Bible Society, 
an edition of 5000 copies of Father Scio's New Testament was printed in London, followed, in 1821, 
by an edition of the entire Bible of this version. An edition of the New Testament from Valera's 
version was completed by the Society in 1858, and the Old Testament from the same version is now in 
progress. The total number of copies published by the Society in Spain and elsewhere, up to the begin- 
ning of 1860, is as follows: — 

Bibles 74,417 

Testaments 254,736 

Spanish and Latin Psalms ....... 1,000 

Portions of Old and New Testaments .... 59,840 

Little can be said as to the result of the distribution of the Spanish version. Spain herself, as 
well as her colonies, is so hermetically sealed, that we are unable to follow up any inquiries as to the 
effects of the circulation of the Scriptures. We must hope that so much seed, though long buried, will 
one day fructify; and that many in the midst of surrounding darkness have been guided, under the 
Spirit's teaching, to Him who is the light of life. The printing of Amat's version in Spain, and that 
in Mexico, seem to prove that the distributions of Bible Societies have awakened a desire to possess the 
Scriptures, so that they cannot be altogether withheld from the people. Further evidence of this is 
afforded by the fact, referred to in the Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society for 1851, that 
a stereotype edition of the Scriptures, accompanied by numerous notes and comments, as well as by the 
Apocrypha, had been brought out in Barcelona a few years previously, in ten volumes. A prospectus, 
it is also stated, was issued for printing another edition at Madrid, in two thick volumes, under the 
superintendence of the Archbishop of Toledo. 

The subjoined extract from a recent Report (1856) of the Foreign Translation Committee of the 
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge is highly interesting. After noticing the unwonted fre- 
quency of recent demands for grants of Spanish Bibles, for distribution in various quarters, they 
proceed to observe: " The fact is, that a somewhat larger amount of religious liberty having been of 
late, by law, conceded to the people, Spain seems now to be awakening, so to speak, from the sleep 
of ages, and is seeking the light which, it is conscious, can be obtained in all its purity only from the 
inspired word of God. Hence has arisen an increasing demand for copies of the Holy Scriptures in 
the Spanish language, with a preference for translations representing, like the Society's version, the 
sense of the Hebrew and Greek originals, and not according with the Latin Vulgate, like those of Scio, 
and Torres Amat." 

Attention has been drawn to the works of their ancient Reformers, and, in particular, a desire has 
been excited among the reading population of Spain to possess the justly celebrated translation of the 
Bible of Cyprian de Valera, referred to above. With such rigour and perseverance was this edition 
of the Bible searched for and destroyed by the Inquisition, that copies of it are now rarely met with. 
"An attempt (continues the Report) was made to reprint it last year in Madrid, but it failed; and 
certain portions of it have recently been published, with modernised orthography, both in London and 
in Scotland." But so important did it appear to the Committee to supply the demand which has arisen 
for this venerable version of the Spanish Scriptures, that they determined at once to undertake the 
task of revision and re-issue from the press. This work has during some years been steadily advanc- 
ing. The revised version is now in course of printing at the Clarendon Press, Oxford, under the care- 
ful superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Lorenzo Lucena, Professor of Spanish in the Taylor Institution, 
who has throughout modernised the spelling, and, where absolutely necessary, substituted other phrase- 
ology for those terms and modes of expression which would be unintelligible to ordinary Spanish readers 
of the present day. In the early part of the present year (1860) it had advanced as far as Isaiah. 

It is the more gratifying to notice the above, from contrast with the almost hopeless bigotry which 



Class III.] CATALAN. 265 

yet prevails so largely within Spain itself. In 1857, an edition of the entire Bible, and one of the 
New Testament, printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society in the course of the pre- 
ceding year, at Madrid, were completed and ready for circulation, when the authorities absolutely inter- 
dicted their dissemination amongst the people, and even the confiscation of the whole was threatened. 
Such are the arguments of the Church of Bome ! 

The Beport of the American Bible Society for 1856 makes mention, among their issues of the 
preceding year, of a Spanish New Testament, recently translated in London, by a learned Spaniard, 
from the original Greek. The language of this version is described as pure and elegant. 



CATALAN, OE CATALONIAN. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v, 1 to 14. 

En lo principi era lo Verb, y lo Verb era ab Deu, y lo Verb era Deu. 2 E11 era en lo 
principi ab Deu. 3 Per ell foren fetas totas las cosas, y sens ell ninguna cosa fou feta de 

10 que ha estat fet. 4 En ell era la vida, y la vida era la Hum dels homes. 5 Y la Hum 
resplandeix en las tenebras, y las tenebras no la comprengueren. 6 Hi hague un home 
enviat de Deu ques anomenava Joan. 7 Est vingue a servir de testimoni pera testificar de 
la Hum, a fi de que tots creguessen per medi d'ell. 8 No era ell la Hum, sino enviat pera 
donar testimoni de la Hum. 9 Aquell era la verdadera Hum, que illumina a tot home que 
ve a. est mon. 10 Ell era en lo mon, yl mon ha estat fet per ell, yl mon nol conegue. 

11 Vingue a sa propia casa, yls seus nol reberen. 12 Mes a tots los quel reberen, que son 
los que creuhen en son nom, los dona poder de ferse fills de Deu. 13 Los quals no han nat 
de la sanch, ni de la voluntat de la earn, ni de la voluntat del home, sino de Deu. u Yl 
Verb fou fet earn, y habita entre nosaltres, y nosaltres vegerem sa gloria, gloria com del 
unigenit del Pare, pie de gracia y de veritat. 

The Catalan is a cognate dialect of the Spanish language, spoken in the province of Catalonia, by 
a population estimated at upwards of a million and a half. A softer and more harmonious modification 
of the same dialect prevails in Valencia, among a population of about 1,400,000. In the islands of 
Majorca, Minorca, and Iviga, a corrupt dialect of Catalan is vernacular. 

The early history of the Catalan dialect is precisely similar to that of the Castilian or modern 
Spanish; both dialects originated from the mixture of the Latin and Gothic languages, but the 
Catalan has received fewer Arabic words than the Castilian. The Catalan soon became a fixed 
language, and, as early probably as the twelfth century, a celebrated code of international maritime laws 
was drawn up in Catalan by the citizens of Barcelona: an abstract of this code is still familiarly known 
as " the laws of Oleron." Of all living languages, the Catalan is said to bear the nearest resemblance 
to the idiom of the Troubadours of Southern France. As in the langue d'oc, the consonant d is often 
suppressed in Catalan, when occurring in the middle of words: thus the Latin mandamen is converted 
into manamen, the Latin recomandar into recomanar; and other peculiarities coexist in the two dialects, 
proving that the closest connection must, at one period, have subsisted between them. Ancient Catalan 



266 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

was, in fact, but a provincial variety of the Langue d'oc, which was diffused through the three powerful 
states of Toulouse, Guienne, and Barcelona. 

Two or three Catalan versions of the Bible (one of which bears the date 1407) are preserved at 
•Paris. One of these MSS. is deposited in the Boyal Library, and contains a translation from the Latin 
of the entire Scriptures, with the prefaces of Jerome; it is beautifully written on fine parchment, and 
bound in three volumes. In 1478, a version of the Scriptures in the Valencian dialect was printed at 
Valencia, but no portion of this edition is extant except the last four pages of one of the copies. From 
the subscription appended to these pages, we learn that the translation was made from the Latin by 
Boniface Ferrer, assisted by other learned men in the monastery of Porta Cceli ; and that, after having 
been revised by Borrell, a Dominican and inquisitor, it was printed at the expense of Yizlant, a 
merchant. The date of the translation is unknown, but it was probably executed at the very com- 
mencement of the fifteenth century, as Ferrer died in 1419. The four pages which have reached our 
times are preserved in the monastery of Porta Cceli; they were transcribed and printed by Father 
Civera, in his work entitled " Varones illustres del Monasterio de Porta Cceli." 

No further attempts seem to have been made to furnish the Catalans with a version of the 
Scriptures in their own dialect till the institution of the British and Foreign Bible Society. About the 
year 1809, two Catalan translations of St. Matthew's Gospel were laid before the committee of that 
Society, and some inquiries were made as to their respective merits. Ultimately, however, a version 
of the entire New Testament was prepared at the expense of the Society by Mr. Prat, a native of 
Catalonia, under the superintendence of the Rev. Mr. Cheap of Knaresborough. An edition of 1000 
copies was printed in London in 1832, under the care of the late Mr. Greenfield, editorial superin- 
tendent of the Society. A second edition of 2000 copies of the New Testament was published in 
London in 1835, and a third edition of 3000 copies was brought out at Barcelona in 1837, under the 
care of Lieut. Graydon, R.N., the Society's agent in that city. The total number of copies of the 
New Testament in the Catalan language, printed by the Society, amounted, at the close of 1859, to 
9030. These editions were gladly received by the Catalans, and obtained a speedy circulation. The 
translation, which was made from the Vulgate conferred with the original text, is accounted accurate 
and faithful ; and the style in which it is written is idiomatic, clear, and elegant. The Psalms and the 
Pentateuch have since been translated by Mr. Prat, but. have not yet been committed to the press. 



Class III.] 



JUDEO-SPANISH. 



267 



J U D E O-S P A N I S H. 

SPECIMEIST, FROM EXODUS, Chap. xx. v. 1 to 7. 



•yn IIP pf>!5P'f> 
'7 1UP"f> 1 P7'15 



pf»J pfnSfifo pfii pfaio pf> V7 i'fi iidf> >b 
'7 'pf>P '15 'p V'7 ID 'p v 2 : 
»ofi pfi'p ]« 3 : put-p n prfip 

lil7'f> '13 f> pfaf" ]U 4 : 'P *7 HO;f>i'7 Pni5lf> p'tV'7 

'f> cSnfi >7 pii"p pii |'f» 'p ppjf'rp'p pjtwj 'j 

»7 pf>15.f> pfii ]'fi »p 'f» lSfof" '7 PT15 Pi j'f> 'p 

»f> Pl"i*f> Pf> P'37pj'f> '15 ]W 5 : PT15 pif 1 lErfof> 

]f>151p'P MlJ'P V'7 V'7 115 'P V 'p pfOTP Pli |15 

'"»1P 'f> PV7PT15 H31P Plf'6 »")31P P*77fip '7 115*i7 

ob 7'Ptp ]"ifi 'f> 6 : p'wp'-jofi p'P 6 pwrnfiip 

: pf>P5f>75Wprfi P'P P'Wrrrftt pf> »f> PU'pf" p'flfiP'i'P 

|0 'p 7f>7'5f'3 pif 1 1"7 115 'P '7 03P15 rf P"?lf |W 7 

: 7fi7'5f>3 Pif» H3P15 IP pf> P*)1p 'p i'f> pf> 'p P")3'J 



i ■• v*™ t ;• t : - t j>- • »: J- -:- 

d^vP pga TP^H TS?$ TP^ hit *5^S 2 

J *3firS» D*TIK DViSk M? rWTS&» J D*ttS 1V3B 

•ir t - i<v -: t : t : •:■"•.• u) : iv -: I- ji 

nnna i D*aa ibni nnnft pfca nsrKi hoik* 

- *f -i\- - <v -: i- -at • | vvr t f: -.[- - - ■ 

*5jk »3 binyn-N^ dpi 1 ? mnfiBta-N 1 ? 5 : v"W? 

• it J- A-: t it J : vv r ■»¥-:-: ' i I vit t 

agsfy nh« py npef wj? Sk yrjhx njn* 

v v« v •« : i at: i : v ■• • - : t* ■• • - 

kkti *& 7 d t »rfoco ^wSi *sni6 d^k 1 ? 

3t • > it : • J- : i : v- . i : A- t - : i- 

j- t : | v- : t i- ;at - I iv v: jt : ••■ 



This language is spoken by the Jews of Turkey, who are the descendants of the Jews formerly 
settled in the Spanish Peninsula. Their forefathers emigrated to Spain and Portugal at a very early 
period of history : traditions, both Jewish and Christian, represent them as having arrived there soon 
after the destruction of the first Temple; and it is very probable that they were settled in the 
Peninsula before the time of the Eoman Emperors. This section of the Jewish people claims to be the 
house of David, and though the claim is not to be proved genealogically (for no genealogies have been 
kept by the Jews since their dispersion), yet it cannot be refuted by any existing data; and that the 
house of David will be found distinct from the other families at the time of the restitution of Israel 
appears to be the inference drawn, by many members of that nation, from Zech. xii. 10 — 14. But, be 
this as it may, it is certain that the Sephardim (Spaniards), as they are still called, consider themselves 
and are regarded by their brethren as the "aristocracy of the dispersed people of Israel." They are 
distinguished from other Jews, not by any difference of faith or of religious observances, but by a 
peculiar language, and by diversity of historical associations. They look back with a degree of pride 
on their glorious sojourn of many centuries in the Peninsula. They were not, even there, exempt 
from persecution; but their position, social and intellectual, was very different from that of their 
brethren in other lands. Under the Visigoths, the early masters of the Peninsula, they were permitted 
to rise to opulence; and the Saracens, who afterwards established themselves in that country, overlooked 
the difference of their religious creeds in the similarity induced by their common Oriental origin, and 
admitted the Jews to an equality with themselves. 

Thus protected and favoured, the Jews of Spain co-operated with the Arabs in maintaining the 
light of literature and science during the darkness of the middle ages ; and their names became famous 
in the schools of Cordova, Toledo, Barcelona, and Granada. At length, by a merciless mandate of 
Ferdinand and Isabella, the Jews were forcibly ejected from Spain in 1492, and from Portugal in 1497. 
There is great discrepancy in the estimates that have been transmitted, concerning the number of those 
thus violently expelled from the land of their adoption. Some authors represent the number of exiled 
Jews at 800,000, others at 300,000 ; while a contemporary Spanish statistical account states that the 



268 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

number was 27,000. The confusion in these various estimates was, perhaps, occasioned by the return 
of many of the Jews after their expulsion. Some among them, by feigned conversion to Christianity, 
were permitted to remain; and it has been asserted, on credible authority, that even yet, in Spain, 
" posts of dignity in the Church, the priesthood, and the cloister, are held by men who in heart are 
Jews, and who meet in secret, at stated seasons, to mourn over and abjure their outward profession of 
the Roman faith, and to curse, with fearful imprecations, the memory of Ferdinand and Isabella." 
While many of the Jews thus remained in the Peninsula, the great majority, preferring their religion 
to the adopted land of their forefathers, emigrated to Turkey; and, according to recent estimates, it 
appears that about 800,000 of this people are at the present time dispersed through the cities and towns 
of that empire. 

The Spanish and Judeo-Spanish languages are fundamentally the same; but more than three 
centuries having elapsed since all communication was cut off between the Spaniards and the exiled 
Jews, some changes, neither few nor inconsiderable, have been introduced into the languages spoken 
by the two nations; so that they now differ greatly from each other in their respective vocabularies, 
in their systems of orthography, and in their phraseology. Judeo-Spanish is, in fact, the Spanish of 
the fifteenth century, moulded in accordance with the Hebrew idiom. It is in daily use among the 
Jews of Turkey, and is, in fact, so exclusively employed and understood by them, that in most of 
their books of devotion, the Hebrew and the corresponding version in Judeo-Spanish are printed in 
parallel columns. 

I. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The exiled Jews of Spain and Portugal established a press of great celebrity at Ferrara, whence 
several important works were issued. But the most famous production of this press is a Spanish version 
of the Old Testament, said to have been translated from the Hebrew expressly for the Jews, by 
Edward Pinel. A much earlier translation than this, however, was executed by some learned Jews; 
i/^ and Rabbi David Kimchi is said, though perhaps incorrectly, to have been the principal translator. 
The Bible of Ferrara was published under the superintendence of Abraham Usque and Yom Tov 
Athias. It was issued in 1553, in two different forms, which have been wrongly looked upon as 
different editions. The dedication in the earlier copies is to Dona Gracia Nasi, a Jewish lady of 
distinction, mother-in-law to Don Joseph Miquez : in the later ones to Hercules de Este, Duke of 
Ferrara. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

I'fi co'f> wp'f> 2 : vn vrf* wrs b>b >b . vn Jtf pp pto #7'3 i'f» -f> • )3T3 b'f> pto vp-pjto 5'f> yf> 
: b'fi yp ii'f> -p «'f» 'ftp -p ii n tffo >f» • b<b to pftatf irrftp pftip pf>i pf>7W 3 : vn M> "p vpwop i'fr 

• pt3wW> Wrtpptf Pi i'f» "i ?i * 6 : p " ,3,,l( ' pli n ni ?i 01,f) ? ™ pi * * "' 3 ?i p3 fo> p * pri * 1* * 
to Bwu to tf'3 wf> 7 : prv raw n vn bn nwti ;w nfoptf 'ftp 6 : vvvnfi pi w itinyvb pi tf 
-tin p)fo w5 w *p : ni pi b>f> pto v 8 : vfv » to vtlm ]fnp 'p tnft? ni pi n iwwfOTP»o ifa 
5>f» i»6 l0 : mw wf> pf> o»5 'p n3Pif> Urn pf> ptmM -p p-nfTrS ni pi ptp i'ft 9 : ni Pi *7 JWBfawD 
pviw Pii -n • ft'iw Ptfp I'f" W3 " : tow i^ V'poip ii u >b • U'f> 'ftp i'f» to tow itf -p : P3PWP tow 
ip ]»f" I'pnp *p wi p^ v-7 W pipp pu'p tp -7 T7ip V7 P'i : |n"3-pn ii *p Pii p^ pp 12 : \rr%vn ii u 
: V7 bn >3ifp 'p : ]vrf>3 »7 7ft»ii)5 '7 ': : >^f>p >7 7PWiii3 *7 o : nato *7 Pirpfo ]ip w 'p 13 : 13JW 
n7f>p i-7 wrifrn v>p n p-wp wip p-wp ip pfr pw5 »f> : pytoiio owp nw 'f> 'J'rtp u»f> -ftp ot'3 i'6 »f» " 

: 76773 'f> t"vfni n wi 

Abraham Usque is said to have printed in the same year (1553), at Ferrara, a separate edition of 
the Psalms, and, two years afterwards, an edition of the Pentateuch, Megilloth (Canticles, Ruth, 



Class III.] J UDEO-SP ANISH. 269 

Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Esther), and Haphtoroth, or sections of the Prophets, read by appoint- 
ment in the synagogues. 

The Ferrara edition of the Old Testament was reprinted in Amsterdam in 1611, and again at 
Venice in 1617. In the course of the following year, this version was revised and corrected by 
Manasseh ben Israel, and printed in Koman letters, at the same place, in 1630. It was again revised 
by Rabbi Samuel de Cazeres, and, with a new preface, was printed.at Amsterdam in 1661. 

Besides the above, other editions of the Old Testament were published as above, among 
which, in 1639, was an edition with short explanatory notes, by Jacob Lambrosus; and the following 
editions of portions of this version are mentioned by Le Long: — Pentateuch and Haphtoroth, 
Amsterdam, 1645; Pentateuch, 1695; Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Psalms (with the Hebrew), Sabionetta, 
1671. 

Another edition of the Old Testament, for the benefit of the Spanish Jews, was printed at Vienna, 
between the years 1813 and 1816, in four volumes 4to.; it contained, in parallel columns, the Hebrew 
text and the Judeo-Spanish version in rabbinical characters. An edition in Koman characters was 
likewise published about the same time, at Amsterdam, corresponding in almost every particular with 
the Vienna edition, of which it is considered a mere transcription. The American Bible Society has 
within recent years issued two editions of the Old Testament in Judeo-Spanish, on behalf of the mission 
established among the Spanish Jews in Turkey. The first of these editions was printed with the Hebrew 
text in parallel columns, in 1843, at Vienna, under the care of the Eev. Mr. Schauffler : it consisted of 3000 
copies. The second edition left the press in 1850; it was printed, like the former, under the super- 
vision of Mr. Schauffler. This version is remarkable for the extreme servility with which it follows the 
Hebrew idiom; and, as it has long been regarded by the Spanish Jews as the standard of their 
language, the peculiarity of its style has induced corresponding peculiarities in their customary 
mode of phraseology, and has perhaps been the main cause of the divergence of their language from 
that of Spain. 

A translation of the New Testament into Judeo-Spanish was undertaken by the British and 
Foreign Bible Society, at the suggestion of Dr. Pinkerton; and, in 1823, the Kev. Mr. Leeves, their 
agent in Turkey, was intrusted with the preparation of the work. Mr. Leeves, with the assistance of 
some learned Jews to whom Judeo-Spanish was vernacular, drew the translation from the Greek text, 
consulting at the same time several different versions of the New Testament. After his translation 
had been subjected to three successive revisions, it was printed, in an edition of 3000 copies, at Corfu, 
in 1829, under the care of Mr. Lowndes. This version does not appear to have yet passed through 
a second edition, nor have we any recent information concerning its success. 




270 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 



c u n a g o a. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. t. v. 1 to 12. 

An to ora koe Hezoes a mira tocr e heende nan, eel a soebi oen seroe ; deespuees eel 
a sienta i soe desipel nan a bini seka dje. 2 1 eel a koemisa di papia i di sienja nan di 
ees manera. 3 Bieenabeentoera ta e pober nan na spiritoe, pasoba reina di Dioos ta di 
nan. 4 Bieenabeentoera ta ees nan, koe ta jora, pasoba lo nan bira konsolaa. 5 Bieena- 
beentoera pasifiko nan, pasoba lo nan erf tera. 6 Bieenabeentoera ees nan, koe tien 
hamber i sedoe di hoestisji, pasoba lo nan no tien hamber i sedoe mas. 7 Bieenabeen- 
toera ees nan, koa tien mizerikoordia, pasoba lo heende tien mizerikoordia koe nan. 

8 Bieenabeentoera ees nan, koe ta liempi di koerasoon, pasoba lo nan mira Dioos. 

9 Bieenabeentoera ees nan, koe ta perkoera paas, pasoba lo nan ta jama joe di Dioos. 

10 Bieenabeentoera ees nan, koe ta persigido pa motiboe di hoestisji, pasoba reina di 
Dioos ta di nan. n Bosonan lo ta bieenabeentoerado, koe ta koos nan zoendra i persigi 
bosonan, i koe ta koos pa mi kausa nan ganja toer soorto di maloe ariba bosonan. 
12 Lcgra bosonan i salta di legria, pasoba bosonan rekompeensa ta grandi deen di Cie'loe ; 
pasoba nan a persigi di ees manera e profeet nan, koe tabata promee koe bosonan. 

Curacoa (or Cura9ao) is an island of tlie Caribbean Sea, belonging to the Dutch. It lies off the 
north coast of Venezuela, between lat. 12° 3' and 12° 24', and long. 68° 47' and 69° 16'. Its area is about 
260 square miles, and its population upwards of 15,000, about half of whom are slaves, and the greater 
proportion of the remainder free negroes. The soil is unfertile, but the island was formerly of some 
importance, on account of its contraband trade with the Spanish colonies. The language of the 
coloured population is a kind of broken Spanish with a Dutch orthography. A translation of part of 
the New Testament into this language has been effected by the Eev. Mr. Conradi; and a small edition 
of the Gospel of St. Matthew was printed, in 1846, at the expense of the Netherlands Bible Society. 






Class III.] 



PORTUGUESE. 



271 



PORTUGUESE. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 



Almeida's Version. 

1 No principio era a Palavra, e a 
Palavra estava junto de Deus, e a 
Palavra era Deus. 2 Esta estava 
no principio junto de Deus. 3 Por 
esta forao feitas todas as cousas ; e 
sem ella se nao fez cousa nenhua 
do que esta feito. 4 Nella estava a 
vida, e a vida era a luz dos homes. 
5 E a luz nas trevas resplandece : 
Porem as trevas nao a comprehen- 
derao. 6 Houve hum homem en- 
viado de Deus, que tinha por nome 
Joao. 7 Este veio por testemunho, 
pera que desse testemunho da luz, 
pera que todas por elle cressem. 
8 Nao era elle a luz mas [era en- 
viado^ paraque desse testemunho 
da luz. s Este era a luz verdadeira, 
que a todo homem, que neste mundo 
vem, alumia. 10 No mundo estava, 
e por elle foi feito o mundo, e o 
mundo o nao conheceo. "Ao seu 
proprio veio, e os seus o nao rece- 
berao. I2 Mas a todos quantos o 
receberao, lhes deu potestade da 
serem feitos filhos de Deus \_convem 
a sabe?-^\ a os que em seu nome crem. 

13 Os quaes nao sao gerados de san- 
gue, nem da vontade da carne, nem 
da vontade de varao, senao de Deus. 

14 E aquella Palavra encarnou, e 
habitou entre nosoutros : E vimos 
sua gloria, gloria como do unigenito 
do Pae, cheio de graga e de verdade. 



Pereira's Version. 

1 No principio era o Verbo, e o 
Verbo estava em Deos, e o Verbo 
era Deos. 2 Elle estava no princi- 
pio em Deos. 3 Todas as cousas 
forao feitas por elle ; e nada do que 
foi feito, foi feito sem elle. 4 Nelle 
estava a vida, e a vida era a luz dos 
homens : 5 E a luz resplandece nas 
trevas, e as trevas nao a compre- 
henderao. 6 Houve hum homem 
enviado por Deos, que se chamava 
Joao. 7 Este veio por testemunha, 
para dar testemunho da luz, a fim 
de que todos cressem por meio delle. 

8 Elle nao era a luz, mas era o que 
havia de dar testemunho da luz. 

9 Este he que era a verdadeira luz, 
que allumia a todo o homem, que 
vem a este Mundo. I0 Estava no 
Mundo, e o Mundo foi feito por elle, 
e o Mundo nao o conheceo. " Veio 
para o que era seu, e os seus nao o 
receberao. 12 Mas a todos os que 
o receberao, deo elle poder de 
se fazerem filhos de Deos, aos 
que crem no seu Nome : I3 Que 
nao nascerao do sangue, nem da 
vontade de carne, nem da vontade 
do homem, mas que nascerao de 
Deos. 14 E o Verbo se fez carne, 
e habitou entre nos ; e nos vimos 
a sua gloria, gloria como de Filho 
Unigenito do Pai, cheio de graga e 
de verdade. 



Bots's Version. 

I No principio era o Verbo, e o 
Verbo estava com Deos, e o Verbo 
era Deos. 2 Este estava no prin- 
cipio com Deos. 3 Todas as cousas 
forao feitas por elle : e nem huma 
so cousa, que foi feita, foi feita sem 
elle. 4 Nelle estava a vida, e a vida 
era a luz dos homens ; 5 E a luz 
resplandece nas trevas, e as trevas 
nao a comprehenderao. 6 Houve 
hum homem enviado de Deos, cujo 
nome era Joao. 7 Este veio por tes- 
temunho, para que desse teste- 
munho da luz, para que todas cres- 
sem por meio della : 8 Elle nao era 
a luz : mas para que desse teste- 
munho da luz. 9 Era a luz verda- 
deira, a que allumia a todo o ho- 
mem, vendo a este mundo. 10 Es- 
tava no mundo, e o mundo por elle 
foi feito, e o mundo nao o conheceo; 

II Ao sen proprio veio, e os seus pro- 
prios nao o receberao ; 12 Quantos 
porem o receberao, a elles lhes deo 
poder de se fazerem filhos de Deos, 
visto que elles criao no seu Nome : 
13 Os quaes nao nascerao de sangue, 
nem de vontade de carne, nem de 
vontade de homem, mas sim de 
Deos. 14 E o Verbo se fez carne 
e habitou entre nos (e vimos a 
sua gloria, gloria como do Unige- 
nito do Pai) cheio de graga e de 
verdade. 



I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The population of Portugal, according to the last official returns (1857), amounts to 3,568,895, but trie 
Portuguese language is diffused far beyond the limits of this small kingdom. In the empire of Brazil, 
which, occupies a great part of South America, and which, as a single country, ranks next in point of 
extent to the vast empires of Eussia and China, Portuguese is the language of government, and is 
more or less employed by all classes. According to the computation of Balbi, the number of Portuguese, 
or Filhos de Reino, as they are called in Brazil, is upwards of 900,000, while the total amount of popu- 
lation in that empire, in 1856, amounted to 7,677,800. Roman Catholicism, in its most bigoted 
form, is the religion of the Portuguese, both in Europe and America. A peculiar dialect of the lan- 
guage, called Indo-Portuguese, prevails, as we shall hereafter have occasion to mention, in certain parts 
of India and of the East Indian islands. 



II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Of all the languages derived from the Latin, the Galician, or old Portuguese, is the oldest which 



272 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

exhibits a formed character. It originated under the same circumstances as the Spanish, and in fact 
both languages were at first but provincial varieties of the same tongue. Modern Portuguese is the 
immediate offspring of the Galician, and though it still preserves unequivocal indications of its original 
connection with the Spanish, it exhibits some distinctive characteristics of its own. It is less guttural, 
but more nasal, and harsher and more unpleasing in sound than the Spanish ; and it possesses a class of 
words which cannot be traced in the Spanish vocabulary, but which are supposed to have been drawn from 
the dialects spoken on the coast of Barbary. The Latin words, which have been incorporated in this 
language, have undergone the following transformations: — The letter x, when final, is generally changed 
into z, as paz, voz, luz, perdiz, from pax, vox, etc. ; pi, when initial, is changed into ch, as plaga, cliaga ; 
the letter r is often substituted for I in the middle of words, as craro for claro, obrigar for obligar; and 
sometimes the central consonant of Latin words is altogether omitted, as fiar for filar, aa for ala; cor, 
dor, for color, dolor. The Portuguese is further characterised by having an infinitive conjugated like 
other moods of verbs, as well as by possessing a distinct set of words to denote a thrust or cut with 
a sword or other weapon; an idea which, in most languages, cannot be expressed without circum- 
locution: thus, cutildda, a cut with a sword; estoedda, a stab with a sword or dagger; panedda, a blow 
with a stick or club; pedrdda, a blow with a stone. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

It was not till after the close of the seventeenth century, that any attempt was made to produce 
a Portuguese version of the Scriptures. About that period a translation was made, under the auspices 
of the Dutch government, for the benefit of the Portuguese and their descendants in Java, Ceylon, 
and other eastern colonies. The translator was John Ferreira d' Almeida, a native of Lisbon, who is 
supposed to have gone out to the East in the first instance as a Roman Catholic missionary, and to 
have been afterwards converted to Protestantism. He is thought to have commenced his version at 
Ceylon, but the place and time of his death are quite uncertain. He translated the whole of the New 
Testament, and carried the translation of the Old Testament as far as the end of the Prophecies of 
Ezekiel. The New Testament, after having been revised by Heynen and De Voeght, was printed at 
Amsterdam, in 1681, by order of the Dutch East India Company. A second, or revised, edition was 
printed at Batavia, in 1693, by order of the same body, and at their press. The Gospel of St. 
Matthew was again printed at Amsterdam, in 1711, and the entire New Testament in the course of 
the following year. 

The portion of the Old Testament translated by Almeida was revised after his death by Ziegenbalg, 
Grundler, Schultze, and other missionaries, at Tranquebar. The following list (given by Adler) shows 
the order in which the work was completed. 

1719. The Pentateuch, as translated by Almeida, printed at Tranquebar. 

1732. The Twelve Minor Prophets, translated by the Tranquebar missionaries, printed at 

the same place. 
1738. The books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Esdras, Nehemiah, and 

Esther, printed at Tranquebar, as translated by Almeida, but revised and compared with 

the original text by the missionaries. 
1744, The books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles, published from Almeida's 

text, revised and compared with the sacred original, by the missionaries at Tranquebar. 
1751. The Four Major Prophets published; the first three of which were translated by Almeida, 

and the fourth (Daniel) by C. T. Walther, missionary at Tranquebar: the whole revised 

by the missionaries. 

These editions were all in quarto. A second edition of the entire Old Testament, in 2 vols. 16mo., 
seems to have been brought out at Batavia, in 1748. In this edition a version was given of the books 
left untranslated by Almeida, by Jacob op den Akker, one of the Dutch ministers at Batavia. 



Class III.] PORTUGUESE. 273 

Between the years 1721 and 1757, two revised editions of the Pentateuch and of the Psalms, two 
revised editions of the New Testament, and one of the Four Gospels, were printed at Tranquebar and 
Batavia. Another edition of the Old Testament was printed at Batavia, 1783-1804; and no further 
editions appear to have been given of this version until it was published by the British and Foreign 
Bible Society. 

A Catholic Portuguese version of the entire Scriptures, from the Vulgate, was published in 23 vols. 
12mo., with annotations, at Lisbon, 1781-1783, by Don Antonio Pereira de Figueiredo, a Portuguese 
ecclesiastic. This translator possessed great learning, and his writings were so numerous as to fill a 
catalogue of seventy-six pages. He was brought up among the Jesuits, but afterwards became one of 
their strongest opponents. He engaged with much ardour in state affairs, and for a time laid aside his 
religious habit; but he resumed it a few hours before his death. Though adhering to the Church of 
Borne, he was a bold opposer of the claims of papal authority; and his translation, so far from being 
a servile imitation of the Vulgate, differs from it in several passages, and follows the Greek. An edition, 
containing his latest corrections, was commenced at Lisbon in 1794, but was not completed at press till 
1819. In this edition the corrections are so numerous, that it may almost be regarded as a new version. 

A third translation of the Scriptures into Portuguese has been accomplished by the Bev. Thomas 
Boys, D.D. This version has been brought out at the expense of the Trinitarian Bible Society. 
Dr. Boys commenced his important labours by making a critical revision of Almeida's version. On 
account of the difficulty of meeting with adequate literary aid in England, he spent some time at 
Lisbon, where he obtained the assistance of two learned Portuguese scholars; and he appears to have 
completed the revision of the New Testament, and to have published small editions of the Gospels of 
St. Matthew and St. Mark, and of the Psalms. In 1837, however, the Society came to the deter- 
mination of publishing a new Portuguese translation from the Greek and Hebrew texts, and Dr. Boys 
was appointed to carry this purpose into execution. He was directed to use Almeida's version as a 
basis, subject to a careful comparison with the Hebrew text; and to make such alterations in style, 
orthography, and language, as to render the work intelligible to the Portuguese of the present day. The 
New Testament, faithfully translated in accordance with these directions, was completed at press in 
1843, and the Old Testament in 1847; the printing was carried on in London, as the same neatness 
and accuracy could not be insured at Lisbon. 

When the British and Foreign Bible Society undertook the publication of the Portuguese Scrip- 
tures-, for the benefit of the prisoners of war then in England, and for the Portuguese islands and 
colonies, the version selected, after long and anxious deliberation, was that of Almeida. The reason 
assigned for this preference was, that it was then the only Protestant version. The Society's editions 
did not, however, meet with the grateful reception that had been anticipated. Almeida's version has 
never been much esteemed in Portugal, partly, perhaps, because made by a converted Protestant, and 
completed by other Protestants at a distance from the parent state ; but chiefly because it is an anti- 
quated version, many of the words being obsolete, and the style not idiomatic. The complaints against 
this version, which were in consequence laid before the Society, led to the publication, in 1818, of an 
edition of 5000 New Testaments, printed from Pereira's version. An edition of 5000 entire Bibles, 
and 5000 additional New Testaments, followed in 1821, Mr. Cavalho correcting the press. Another 
edition of the New Testament, and some separate books, from Pereira's version, was printed in 1823. 
But when it was determined that the Apocryphal Books should no longer be printed, the version of 
Pereira was again subjected to examination. It was divested of all apocryphal matter; and many 
exceptionable renderings, and such notes as had escaped detection in the former editions, were corrected ; 
and another revised edition of the whole Bible was given, in 1828, under the care of Messrs. da Costa 
and Green. The following is the number of copies of the Scriptures, in whole and in part, printed by 
the British and Foreign Bible Society up to December, 1859 : — 

Bibles, 26,160; Testaments. 70,180; Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Isaiah, 5,000; St. Luke 
and Acts, 1,000. 

19 



274 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

A Portuguese New Testament, in 18mo.; and also a Portuguese and English Testament, in 
parallel columns, 12mo., were printed by the American Bible Society in 1857; the version used being 
a translation made in London, from the Greek (it is not stated by whom), and conducted through the 
press under the supervision of the Eev. A. de Mattos, of Jacksonville, Illinois. These issues are 
intended to supply the wants of the numerous Portuguese immigrants in the United States, and also 
the increasing demands made from Brazil. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OP THIS VERSION. 

The tidings of progress from Portugal are by no means generally encouraging. Bigotry has been 
for centuries the chief characteristic of the people, and "apathy is too often the prevailing temper: other 
hindrances are removed; but, in the almost total absence of visible results, it is needful that man should 
learn lessons of dependence, and wait on Him who opens, and no man shuts." There are, however, 
some symptoms of recent improvement, manifest in an awakening spirit of religious thoughtfulness and 
inquiry observable in Portuguese society, and of which the following passage, from a Lisbon journal, 
is one of the most encouraging. " The only true morality is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ: let our 
children be instructed only by this book, and not by catechisms which have been clearly got up to serve 
the sinister ends of the priesthood. One of the greatest services which this association" (referring to an 
association lately formed in Lisbon for the purpose of resisting the progress of Jesuitism) " could render 
to the nation, is to propagate the Gospel in very cheap editions, so as to come within the reach of 
everybody's means." 

It is pleasing to contemplate the picture afforded by the remarkable manifestation of the 
divine blessing, which has accompanied the perusal of the Portuguese version in Madeira. In 1847, no 
less than two hundred of the Portuguese inhabitants of that island were awakened to the knowledge of 
the Lord. Persecution quickly followed; the Bibles and Testaments belonging to the British and 
Foreign Bible Society, deposited for distribution in the house of Dr. Kalley, were seized by the mob, 
and publicly destroyed in an auto-da-fe. The converts were compelled to flee in haste from their 
homes, to seek refuge in Trinidad. Their conduct during their voyage thither is thus graphically 
described by an eye witness: — " Many of them came on board with nothing but the clothes they had 
on, and these in tatters, from their wanderings in the Serras. Yet, during the days we sojourned 
among them in that ark of refuge, not a word of repining reached our ears, except from one or two 
unconverted members of large families, who had not yet learned to love the cause for which the rest 
rejoiced to suffer. The language of all the others was that of joy and thankfulness to Him who had 
called them ' out of darkness into His marvellous light ;' and who had now in His mercy delivered them 
from their enemies on every side, and gathered them together in one family, and into one refuge. 
The more that was seen of this persecuted flock, in circumstances the most trying, the higher did their 
Christian principle rise in the estimation of all. Those only who know the general character of the 
Portuguese can form a just estimate of the total change that must have passed on these converts. 
They had become ' new creatures,' indeed. In the distribution of clothes to the necessitous, it was 
most gratifying to witness the good feeling shown by all on the occasion, — to see not merely their 
willingness to share with one another the bounty of their Christian friends, but their eagerness to tell of 
the wants of others more destitute than themselves. And in no one instance was there an attempt to 
deceive, by any concealment of what they possessed. The mate and steward both repeatedly remarked, 
' that they had never seen folk love one another as these folk did. 1 Among the two hundred and eleven 
passengers of the William, there was one Eomanist family, who had long persecuted the converts, and 
was now seeking a passage to Trinidad as emigrants. Their extreme poverty excited the lively com- 
passion of those around them. After the converts had each received from the hand of charity their 
small supply of clothing, some of them came aft to their benefactors on the poop, and begged to know 
if they might now consider it as their own property, and act accordingly. They were asked the reason 
of the question, when they said it was their wish to obey their Lord's command — ' Love your enemies, 



Ciass III.] INDO-PORTUGUESE. 275 

bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you 
and persecute you.' They were cheerfully assured that they might, and it was pleasing to see them 
share their scanty store with their former enemies; thus affording a most beautiful specimen of the 
spirit by which they were animated. 

" Their conduct throughout was such that the Eomanists openly expressed their wonder and 
astonishment. They saw those who had little properties (and there were both land and householders 
in the William's band of Christians) parting with their houses and land, and all they possessed, for the 
smallest trifle, counting ' all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our 
Lord.' One Portuguese gentleman, talking on the subject, wound up by saying, that ' if he were 
called upon to choose a religion suddenly, and without further thought, he believed he should fix upon 
that of these people, because he saw them suffer without complaining.' 

"As was their conduct under persecution on shore, so was their conduct afloat. They had chosen 
Christ, and the only subject of their glorying was the Lord Jesus. They looked not back upon the 
world, with all its pleasures. From it, and from self, they had been weaned by the Spirit of that God, 
who had been their friend through evil report, and through good report ; who had been more than a 
brother to them, in sorrow and in joy, by day and by night, at all seasons, and in all circumstances. 
They knew that He, who had thus watched over them, would not desert them in the land to which 
they were now being driven, before the persecuting hand of man." 



IiVD O-P ORTUGUE8E. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Ne o corner tinha a Palavra, e a Palavra tinha junto de Deos, e a Palavra tinha 
Deos. 2 O mesmo tinha ne o comeco junto de Deos. 3 Todas cousas tinha feitas de elle ; 
e sem elle nao tinha feita ne hua, cousa que tinha feita. 4 Em elle tinha vida ; e a vida 
tinha o Lume de homens. 5 E o Lume te luze em escuridade ; e a escuridade nunca ja 
conhece aquel. 6 Tinha hum homem mandado de Deos, quern seu nome tinha Joa5. 
7 O mesmo ja vi por hum testimunho, pera da testimunho de o Lume, que todos de elle 
pode ere. 8 Elle nao tinha o Lume, mas tinha mandado pera da testimunho de o Lume. 
9 Aquel tinha o Lume verdadeiro, que te alumia per cada hum homem quern te vi ne o 
mundo. 10 Elle tinha ne o mundo, e de elle o mundo tinha formado, e o mundo per elle 
nunca ja conhece. n Elle ja vi per seu mesmo povo, e seus mesmos nunca ja recebe per 
elle. 12 Mas per todos quantos quern ja recebe per elle, per ellotros elle ja da poder pera 
fica os filhos de Deos, ate, per ellotros quern ja ere em seu nome : 13 Quern tinha nacido, 
nem de sangue, nem de a vontade de a came, nem de a vontade de homem, mas de Deos. 
14 E a Palavra tinha feita came, e ja mora entre nos, (e nos ja olha sua gloria, a gloria 
como de o unigenito de o Pai,) enchido de graca e verdade. 

Indo-Porttjguese is more or less understood by all classes in the island of Ceylon, and along 
the whole coast of India; its extreme simplicity of construction and facility of acquirement having 



276 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

caused it to be extensively used as a medium of traffic. But the people to whom it is vernacular, and 
who, in Ceylon alone, number more than 50,000, are the descendants of the Dutch and Portuguese, 
the former rulers of India. The principal characteristic of this language is the omission of the articles, 
the cases of nouns, inflections of verbs, and most of the expletives which abound in European-Portu- 
guese. The various relations of words in a sentence are expressed by the aid of auxiliary particles; 
and these particles are so numerous, that they subserve all the offices of inflections. The words of the 
language are drawn from Dutch, Portuguese, and Indian sources, and much of the phraseology is 
moulded in accordance with Sanscrit idioms. 

On the decline of the Dutch and Portuguese governments in India, the members of these nations 
were left without any means of religious instruction, except such as was afforded by the Roman Catholic 
missionaries; and, in consequence, Roman Catholicism became their prevailing form of religion. 
In 1817, Mr. Newstead, a Wesleyan missionary stationed at Negombo, in Ceylon, commenced a 
translation of the New Testament for the spiritual benefit of this people. Portions of this transla- 
tion were read by Mr. Newstead from the pulpit, and were likewise freely lent among sick persons, 
one of whom is said to have died with the Gospel of St. John beneath his pillow. The people evinced 
so much interest in the work, that a printed edition was early resolved on; and, in 1819, the version 
of the Gospel of St. Matthew was published in Ceylon, at the expense of the Colombo Auxiliary Bible 
Society: and the Psalms followed, in 1821, at the expense of the same Society. 

Soon afterwards Mr. Newstead completed his translation of the New Testament, and the work 
was subjected to a searching revision by a committee appointed for the purpose, consisting of three of 
the missionaries and six of the most intelligent of the Indo-Portuguese. The revision was brought to 
a close in 1824; and Mr. Newstead undertook a journey to England, to solicit the aid of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society in the publication of the work. The translation was strongly recommended 
to the adoption of the committee by the Hon. and Rev. T. J. Twisleton, archdeacon of Ceylon; and, 
as its value was attested by other competent judges, two editions were printed in London, at the 
expense of the Society, in 1826, under the personal superintendence of Mr. Newstead. The second 
edition of the New Testament, consisting of 5000 copies, appeared at Colombo in 1831; and, in the 
following year, a version of the books of Genesis, Exodus, and part of Leviticus, was published at the 
same place, at the expense of the same Society. The Pentateuch and Psalter were printed at Colombo, 
in 1833, in an edition of 5000 copies; the translation of the entire Old Testament is announced as in 
progress. 

Another edition of the Indo-Portuguese New Testament has been more recently contemplated, 
and was originally designed to be printed in London, under the supervision of Mr. Newstead, the 
translator, and at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. But Mr. Newstead, after so 
many years' absence from Ceylon, did not feel sufficient confidence in his knowledge of the language to 
carry the New Testament through the press ; and it was accordingly determined to print only the Gospel 
of St. Matthew in London, for temporary purpose, while the issue of the entire work should be referred 
to the missionaries resident in Ceylon, with a view to its being printed at the Mission-press in that 
island. The Gospel of St. Matthew was finished in 1852, under Mr. Newstead's superintendence. 
Instructions were at the same time given for an edition of 2000 copies of the entire Testament to be 
printed at Colombo, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. This edition was com- 
pleted in 1853, under the care of a committee of revision appointed for the purpose. 



Class III.] 



ITALIAN. 



277 



ITALIAN. 



SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14." 



Maleemi's Veesion. 

I Empee era el verbo : et el verbo 
era appresso dio : et dio era el 
verbo. 2 Questo era nel principio 
appresso dio: 3 tutte cose per esso 
fatte son: et senza esso fatta e niuna 
cosa laquale fatta e. 4 In lui era la 
vita: et la vita era luce de lhomini: 
5 et la luce ne le tenebre luce: et le 
tenebre quella non compresero. 6 Fu 
vno bomo mandato da dio : el cui 
nome era ioanne. 7 Questo venne 
per testimonio percbe egli rendesse 
testimonianza del lume : acio cbe 
tutti per lui credessero : 8 egli non 
era la luce : ma acio rendesse tes- 
timonianza del lume. 9 Era vera 
luce ; laqual illumina ogni bomo 
veniente in questo mondo. 10 Egli 
era nel mondo, et per lui fatto e el 
mondo : et el mondo nol cognobe. 

II venne egli ne la propria citta de 
iudea : et gli suoi cittadini nol re- 
ceuettero. 12 Ma tutti quanti collor 
cbel receuettero allor dette potesta 
de essere facti figlioli da dio a color 
cbe credeno nel nome suo: 13 liquel 
non per mixtione de sangui : ne per 
diletto de femina ne per piacere de 
lbuomo : ma da dio nasciuti sono. 
14 Et a tal modo el verbo pieno di 
gratia : et de vita fatto e carne : et 
habitoi i noi. Ei babiamo veduto la 
gloria sua : condecente gloria del 
vnigenito col patre. 



Diodati's Veesion. 

1 Nel principio la Parola era, e la 
Parola era appo Iddio, e la Parola 
era Dio. 2 Essa era nel principio 
appo Iddio. 3 Ogni cosa e stata 
fatta per essa : e senza essa niuna 
cosa fatta e stata fatta. 4 In lei era 
la vita, e la vita era la luce degli 
uomini. 5 E la luce riluce nelle 
tenebre, e le tenebre non 1' hanno 
compresa. 6 Vi fu un' uomo man- 
dato da Dio, il cui nome era Gio- 
vanni. 7 Costui venne per testimo- 
nianza, affin di testimoniar della 
Luce, accioche tutti credessero per 
lui. 8 Egli non era la Luce, anzi 
era mandato per testimoniar della 
Luce. 9 Colui, che e la Luce vera, 
la quale illumina ogni uomo cbe 
viene nel mondo, era. 10 Era nel 
mondo, e 1 mondo e stato fatto per 
esso : ma il mondo non 1' ba conos- 
ciuto. n Egli e venuto in casa sua, 
ed i suoi non 1' banno ricevuto. 
12 Ma, a tutti coloro che 1' banno 
ricevuto, i quali credono nel suo 
Nome, egli ba data questa ragione, 
d' esser fatti flgliuoli di Dio: I3 I 
quali, non di sangue, ne di volonta di 
carne, ne di volonta d' uomo, ma son 
nati da Dio . ' 4 E la Par ola e stata fatta 
carne, ed e abitata fra noi, (e noi ab- 
biam contemplata la sua gloria : glo- 
ria, come dell' unigenito proceduto 
dal Padre) piena di grazia, e di verita. 



Maetini's Veesion. 

I Nel principio era il Verbo, e il 
Verbo era appresso Dio, e il Verbo 
era Dio. 2 Questo era nel principio 
appresso Dio. 3 Per mezzo di lui 
furon fatte le cose tutte : e senza di 
lui nulla fu fatto dicio, cbe e stato 
fatto. 4 In lui era la vita, e la vita 
era la luce degli uomini : 5 E la 
luce splende tra le tenebre, e le te- 
nebre non la banno ammessa. 6 Vi 
fu un uomo mandato da Dio, che 
nomavasi Giovanni. 7 Questi venne 
qual testimone, affin di render tes- 
timonianza alia luce, onde per mezzo 
di lui tutti credessero : 8 Ei non 
era la luce ; ma era per rendere tes- 
timonianza alia luce. 9 Quegli era 
la luce vera, che illumini ogni uomo, 
che viene in questo mondo. 10 Egli 
era nel mondo, e il mondo per lui 
fu fatto, e il mondo nol conobbe. 

II Venne nella sua propria casa, e i 
suoi nol ricevettero. 12 Ma a tutti 
que', che lo ricevettero, die potere 
di diventar flgliuoli di Dio, a quelli, 
che credono nel suo nome. 13 1 
quali non per via di sangue, ne per 
volonta della carne, ne per volonta 
d' uomo, ma da Dio sono nati. 14 E 
il Verbo si e fatto carne, e abito tra 
noi : e abbiamo veduto la sua gl - 
ria, gloria come dell' Unigenito 
del Padre, pieno di grazia, e di 
verita. 



I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Italian language is spoken in Italy, the central peninsula of Southern Europe, by a population 
which, according to the latest census, amounts to 25,800,000. This fine country has for ages been a 
prey to the tyranny and superstition of the Popish hierarchy, and the frequent political convulsions 
which it has undergone have been unattended, except in the states of the Sardinian monarchy, by any 
permanent alleviation of the heavy pressure of its spiritual and intellectual bondage. In Malta, Sicily, 
and the isles of the Mediterranean, in Barbary, in Egypt, and in different parts of Turkey, the inhabi- 
tants are better acquainted with Italian than with any other European language. Italian is also spoken 
on the south side of the Alps by the Italian Swiss Protestants of the canton Ticino, who number 
about 120,000 individuals. 



II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

On the decline and fall of the Roman empire, the Latin language, though altered and corrupted, 
was not destroyed; it perpetuated its existence under new forms, produced by the amalgamation of its 
ancient elements with the words and idioms of northern nations; " the active movement of the Germanic 



278 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass III. 

mind," it has been observed, " operating upon the subject Roman population, dissolved, and as it were 
burst the compact structure, of the Latin tongue." Of the various languages formed by this process 
(which in different countries was modified by different influences), the Italian is the softest and the 
most harmonious. In the reception of Latin words it is guided by the truest principles of euphony. 
Two different consecutive consonants occurring in a Latin word are not, on account of the harshness 
of their combined sound, allowed to stand in Italian, but, with a very few exceptions, the repetition 
of the one consonant is substituted for the other; as, for instance, in the Latin words obviare, acto, 
facto, which in Italian become onviare, atto, fatto. All consonants, which interfere with the established 
principles of euphony, are totally rejected; hence we find in Italian Jiore for flore, fiocco for flocco, and 
many other similar omissions, which tend greatly to conceal from cursory observation the affinity 
between Latin and Italian words: and go far to prove that the Italian, as well as other dialects now 
spoken in Italy, may be remnants of dialects coeval with the Latin as spoken at Rome, and not derived 
from that language as it is generally supposed. There are several distinct Italian dialects spoken in 
Lombardy, Naples, and other parts of Italy: the dialect which, by way of preeminence, we call the 
Italian, is in point of fact the Tuscan: it is not confined to any particular district, but represents 
pretty well the speech of middle Italy. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The earliest Italian version now known to be in existence is that of Malermi or Malherbi, printed 
at Venice, 1471. A translation is said to have been made at a still earlier period by Voragine, arch- 
bishop of Genoa; but although no MS. of this work is now extant, there is every reason to believe that 
it was merely a version of Comestor's Historia Scholastica, an abridgment or synopsis of sacred history. 
Malermi was a Benedictine monk, and afterwards abbot of a monastery of the order of St. Benoit. 
Twenty-two editions of his version are mentioned by Le Long, nine before a.d. 1500, and the last in 
1567. It is a tolerably accurate translation of the Vulgate. Another version, professedly executed 
from the original texts by Antonio Bruccioli, was published at Venice, 1532: it is well known, how- 
ever, that this version is little else than a mere translation of the Latin version of Pagninus, which it 
follows with much servility. In 1579, this version had passed through eleven editions. A revised 
edition, in which it was rendered conformable to the Vulgate, appeared at Venice in 1538. Another 
revised and corrected edition was published at Geneva in 1562, for the use of Protestants, but 
Walchius and others regard this as an entirely new version. 

"We now come to the Italian version executed by Diodati, one of the most important translations 
of modern times. Diodati was descended from a noble family of Lucca, and in his early youth enjoyed 
the advantages of the most careful instruction: his progress in learning was such, that, when only 
nineteen years of age, he was appointed Professor of Hebrew at Geneva. At the Synod of Dort, in 
1619, he gained so much reputation, that he was chosen, with five other divines, to prepare the Belgic 
" Confession of Faith." He published his Italian version of the Scriptures at his own expense, and it 
is said to have occasioned him great pecuniary embarrassment. It is written in the plain Lucchese 
dialect, and is very intelligible and clear, so that it is peculiarly suitable for circulation among the 
poorer classes of Italy. The translation was made from the original texts, to which it adheres with 
great fidelity. An important revised edition appeared in 1641. 

An Italian version for the use of Roman Catholics was prepared from the Vulgate by Antonio 
Martini, archbishop of Florence, towards the close of the eighteenth century. The New Testament 
was printed at Turin in 1769, and the Old Testament in 1779 ; the latter appeared during the 
pontificate of Pius VI., and received his sanction. Both Testaments in the original edition were 
encumbered with explanatory notes, chiefly taken from the fathers. The version has been repeatedly 
reprinted with and without the notes, and although it supports the dogmas of the Roman Church, and 
servilely follows the Latin text, yet it has been much admired on account of the elegance of the diction. 
It is written in the pure Tuscan dialect. 



Class III.] DACO-ROMANA. 279 

The necessity of furnishing supplies of the Italian Scriptures was first pressed on the attention of 
the British and Foreign Bible Society by the Rev. Mr. Terrot, chaplain at Malta, in 1808; and 
Diodati's version was selected by the Society for publication. The first edition appeared in 1809, and 
the success which attended it was considered as justifying the adoption of stereotype; accordingly 
plates were cast in 1810, from which several large impressions were executed. With a view to an 
unrestricted circulation, the Society afterwards consented to publish Martini's Roman Catholic version, 
and an edition of 5000 copies appeared in 1817 at Naples. The total number of copies, in whole or in 
part, of the Italian Scriptures printed by this Society (up to the close of 1859) amounted to 126,272 
Bibles, 264,987 Testaments, 7500 copies of detached portions, and 2000 Italian and Latin Psalters. 
An edition of 4000 copies of the Italian Testament (Diodati) was printed by the Society, in Rome 
itself, in 1849; besides other editions at Florence, Pisa, and Lucca. 

An important service to the cause of revealed truth has been rendered by the Foreign Translation 
Committee of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, in a revised edition of Diodati's Italian 
Bible (in 16mo.) carried through the press under their care in 1854. This edition was throughout 
carefully corrected by comparison with the original Greek and Hebrew texts, the orthography 
modernised, and obsolete words and phrases exchanged for those in present use. The addition of 
marginal references, with chronological and other tables, increased the value of this edition, the New 
Testament portion of which was speedily exhausted, and has since been reprinted (both in 8vo. and 
16 mo.) at the University press at Cambridge. 

Of the results produced by the introduction of the Protestant Scriptures into Italy, little can at 
present be said. But the political changes of which that country has been the recent seat, and which 
are yet in course of transaction — consequent upon events which have fixed upon it the attention of the 
civilised world, and have awakened the warmest sympathies of other nations in behalf of the Italian 
people — are full of hope and promise for the future. It is only within the Sardinian territories that 
anything like a free circulation of the Word of God has hitherto been permitted by the authorities : 
elsewhere, the bigotry of the Romish Church, encouraged by the arm of the secular power, has forbid 
any attempt at the dissemination of the truth. If the opposition to the introduction into that land of 
the Protestant Bible has been decided, the success achieved has been not less decided. The liberal 
distribution of Bibles and Testaments among the Sardinian troops engaged in the Crimea, during the 
war of 1854-5, was productive of the happiest results. Thousands of these men returned to their 
native land, bearing with them dearly-prized copies of the Sacred Volume, and their persuasions have 
induced great numbers of their comrades and friends to obtain the same precious treasure. 



DACO-ROMANA, OH WALLACHIAN. 

FOE SPECIMEN" OF THIS VERSION, see Plate 5, page 141. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, in which this language is spoken, formed part of 
Ancient Dacia; and though now nominally included in European Turkey, they form semi-independent 
states, under the government of native rulers, chosen by the inhabitants, subject to the approval of the 
Sultan. The inhabitants are descendants of the Dacians, and of the Roman colonists who settled in the 
country after its subjugation by Trajan. In consequence of their Roman origin, the Wallachians style 
themselves Rumanje, and are commonly known to other nations as the Rouman race. They are to be 



280 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

found dispersed in several of the adjoining provinces, more especially in that of Transylvania and 
Bessarabia. They are all of the Greek Church, and in number may amount to 3,000,000. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Although Dacia was one of the last of the provinces annexed to the Koman empire, and although 
it has since been repeatedly overrun by foreign invaders, yet the language still retains a large number 
of pure Latin words; and it is even said that a stranger speaking in Latin can render himself tolerably 
intelligible to the inhabitants. About half of the Wallachian words have, however, been borrowed 
from the Greek, the Turkish, and the Sclavonian. The pronunciation is soft, and nearly resembles 
that of the Italian. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The first translation of the Scriptures into Wallachian was made by the Metropolitan Theodotius, 
by order of Scherban Woivoda, a prince of Wallachia, and the New Testament was printed at Belgrade, 
in 1648. Prior to that period, the Greek and Sclavonic Scriptures had been in use among the 
Wallachians. A copy of this New Testament is preserved in the Bodleian Library. The Wallachian 
Bible was first printed in 1668 at Bucharest, the capital of Wallachia; another edition was published 
at the same place in 1714, and a third edition appeared at Blaje in Transylvania, in 1795. 

In 1816, the Bussian Bible Society undertook an edition consisting of 5000 copies of the 
Wallachian New Testament. This supply was greatly needed, for when Dr. Pinkerton visited Moldavia 
in 1817, he was assured by the exarch that not fifty Bibles were to be found in all the 800 churches 
belonging to his district. On account of this deplorable scarcity, an edition of 5000 Bibles in this 
language was commenced at the printing office of the exarch in 1817, at the expense of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society. These editions were joyfully received, and so rapidly circulated, that fresh 
supplies were soon found to be requisite. In 1834, Poyenar, director of the schools in Wallachia, 
published at Bucharest 3000 copies of the Gospels for the use of schools, and 3000 additional copies 
for the priests. 

In 1838, an edition of 5000 copies of the Wallachian New Testament, printed from a revised and 
corrected text, furnished by the heads of the Wallachian Church, was published at Bucharest, at the 
expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. This edition was brought out by the permission 
and at the desire of the bishops of Wallachia, and under the sanction of the prince and governor of 
the Wallachian principality. Several other editions of the New Testament have, from time to time, 
been given by this Society to Wallachia : the number of copies of the revised edition thus supplied 
amounts to 15,000. 

The increasing demand for the Sacred Word manifested by the Rouman population within recent 
years, has led to a determination on the part of the British and Foreign Bible Society to undertake 
the translation of the Old Testament into the Wallachian tongue. This task has been commenced by 
Professor Aristias, at Bucharest, and is making satisfactory progress. It had advanced in 1859 as far 
as Isaiah. As different portions of the work have been successively finished, editions of 2000 have 
issued from the Bucharest press. An edition of 5000 Wallachian New Testaments, printed in Roman 
characters, has also been recently completed, it having been affirmed that " hundreds of thousands 
who speak the Wallachian language, but do not read the Sclavonic character," would gladly receive 
the Gospel in the Latin type. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

In 1841, accounts were transmitted to the British and Foreign Bible Society of the great and 
essential good which had been effected by the distribution of their editions of the New Testament: 
" Those individuals belonging to the clergy," it is stated in this report, " as well as other persons who 
were opposed to its dissemination, and who were desirous to put it down, are now anxious to see the 



Class III.] 



PROVENCAL. 



281 



country inundated, as it were, with these New Testaments in the vernacular tongue." Later experiences 
have fully confirmed the impression thus created, and Bucharest has become a highly important centre 
of missionary operations. The large population of Moldavia, Wallachia, and Bulgaria (it is remarked 
in recent Reports) are quite open to the labours of the Society, and there is on the part of the people 
a prevailing desire for the Scriptures. The hostility so generally found to prevail when the Greek 
Church is in the ascendant, does not operate to any material extent amongst the inhabitants of the 
Danubian provinces. 



PEOYENCAL, OR ROMAUNT, 

SPECIMENS, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 6 to 14 



Lyons MS. 

6 Us homfo trames de Deu, alqual era 
nomsJohan. 7 Aquest venc en testi- 
moni que testimoni dones de lum, 
que tuit crezesso per lui. 8 No era 
el lutz, mais testimoni donet de lum. 
9 Era lutz vera, que enlumena tot 
home venent en aquest mon. 10 E1 
mon era, el mons es fait per lui, el 
mons nol conos. n En sas propias 
cosas vee, e li sei nol recevenbero. 
12 Mais cantz que cantz lo receven- 
bero dec ad els pozestats a esser fait 
filh de Deu ; ad aquals que crezo el 
nom de lui : i3 Heal no so de sane, 
ni de volontat de cam, ni de delet 
de baro, mais de Deu so nat. u E 
la paraula es faita cams, e estec en 
nos. E vim la gloria de lui, en ai 
coma gloria du engenrat del paire, 
pies de gracia e de veritat. 



Paris MS. (No. 8086). 

6 Oms fon trames de Dieu local avia 
nom Johan. 7 Aquest venc en tes- 
timoni que dones testimoni de lum, 
que tug crezessan per el. 8 E non 
era lus, mas que dones testimoni de 
lus. 9 Vera lus era, lacal enlumena 
tot home venent en aquest mont. 
10 El mont era, el mont fon fach per 
el, el mont non lo conoc. n En las 
proprias cauzas venc, e li sieu non 
lo receupron. 12 Mas quant receu- 
pron lui, donet ad els poder esser 
fach filh de Dieu, ad aquestz, que 
crezon el nom de lui. 13 Lical non 
son de sane, ni de voluntat de earn, 
ni de voluntat de baro, mas de Dieu 
son nat. u El filh es faitz cams, et 
abitet en nos : e nos vim la gloria 
de lui, coma dun engenrat del paire, 
pie de gracia e de veritat. 



Paris MS. (No. 6833). 

6 Deus trames un home, qui havia 
nom Johan. 7 E vench en testimoni 
e pertal que fes testimoni della lum. 
8 Aquell no era lum, mas feya testi- 
moni della lum. 9 Aquella era vera 
lum, laquall illumina tot horn vivent 
en aquest mon. 10 En lo mon era, 
e all mon per aquell es fet, e al mon 
no conech aquell. u En les sues 
propres coses vench, e los sues non 
raeberan aquell. I2 Mas a tots aquells 
quill raeberan, dona poder que fosen 
fets fills de Deu, aquells, qui cre- 
gueran lo nom del ; 13 qui no son 
nats de sanch, ne per debts de car 
son nats, ne per volentat d ome. 
14 E paraula es feta cam, e abita en 
nos, vahem la gloria daquall, quals 
gloria qui es un sol amgenrat del para, 
qui es pie de gracia, e de veritat. 



Towaeds the close of the twelfth century, a version of the Scriptures in the language then spoken 
in Southern France is well known to have been made by Waldo and his disciples. This version 
was probably intelligible far beyond the limits of France; for, up to the twelfth century, the most 
intimate connection, amounting nearly to identity of structure, appears to have pervaded the dialects 
which in the various disjointed portions of the Boman empire, had been formed, almost simultaneously, 
from the corrupt and decaying elements of the old Latin tongue. A copy of Waldo's version was 
presented to the pope at the Lateran Council of 1179; but the work was condemned and prohibited 
by the Council of Toulouse in 1229, on account of its being written in the vernacular language. 
Many copies were in ponsequence destroyed, but one copy was safely conveyed to this country: 



282 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



[Class III. 



it was presented to Morland, Cromwell's ambassador to the Duke of Savoy, and it was deposited by 
Cromwell in the library of the University of Cambridge. It now appears to be lost ; traces, however, 
of Waldo's text have been discovered by Dr. Gilly, who by an elaborate chain of reasoning demon- 
strates the probability of this ancient text being exhibited in the six Eomaunt versions which have 
reached our day. 

One circumstance which among others may be cited in proof of the antiquity of the text contained 
in these MSS. is, that scriptural quotations occurring in such works as the "Noble Lesson " and the 
"Book of Virtues" (known to have been circulated among the Waldenses prior to a.d. 1200) are in 
literal accordance with the corresponding passages of the Romaunt version. A careful collation of 
these Romaunt MSS. has established the fact that, although some of the copies appear to have been 
more accurately revised than the others, they are all transcripts of one version, which seems to have 
been in use among all the nations to whom the Romance dialects were vernacular. This version was 
evidently a translation from the Latin, but it is not a servile imitation of the Vulgate, the readings of 
the old Italic versions having been consulted and occasionally adopted. This version possesses peculiar 
interest from the fact of its being the first translation of the Scriptures into the vernacular language 
produced in Europe after the disuse of Latin as the language of common life. The six MSS. in which 
this ancient and important version is supposed to be exhibited are the following : — 

I. The Dublin MS. A. 4., No. 13, contains the New Testament, with the books of Proverbs, 
Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Wisdom, and Ecclesiasticus. This MS. formerly belonged to 
Usher, and was presented by Charles II. to the University of Dublin. It is written in 
a dialect which is less purely Provencal than that of the Paris and Lyons copies, and 
which partakes more of the Italian than of the Gallic Romaunt. As it is known to 



Dublin MS. 

1 Lo filh era al comenczament, e lo 
filh era enapres Dio, e Dio era lo 
filh. 2 Aiczo era al comenczament 
enapres Dio. 3 Totas cosas son fai- 
tas par luy ; e alcuna cosa non es 
faita sencza luy. 4 Co que fo fait 
en luy era vita, e la vita era lucz de 
li home. 5 E la lucz lucit en las 
tenebras, e las tenebras non cum- 
preseron ley. 6 Home fo trames de 
Dio,alqualeranomJohan. 7 Aquest 
venc en testimoni, qu'el dones tes- 
timoni de lume, que tuit cresesan 
par luy. 8 El non era lucz, mas 
qu'el dones testimoni de lume. 

9 Lucz era vraya, „laqual enlumena 
tot home venent en aquest mont. 

10 El era al mont, e lo mont fo fait 
par luy, e lo mont non conoc luy. 
"El venc en las proprias, e li seo 
non receopron luy. 12 Mas qual- 
que qual receopron luy, done a lor 
poesta esser fait filh de Dio, aquilh 
liqual creseron al nom de luy: 13 Li- 
qual non son de sang, ni de volunta 
de cam, ni de deleit de baron, mas 
son na de Dio. 14 E la parolla fo 
fayta earn e abite en nos, e nos ve- 
guen la gloria de luy, gloria enayma 
d'un engenra del paire, plen de gra- 
cia e de verita. 



Grenoble MS. 

1 Lo filh era al comenczament. E 
lo' filh era enapres dio e dio era lo 
filh. 2 Aiczo era al comenczament 
enapres dio. 3 totas cosas son faitas 
par luy e alcuna cosa non es fayta 
sencza luy. 4 Czo que fo fayt en 
luy era vita, e la vita era lucz de li 
home. 6 e la lucz luczic en las te- 
nebras : e las tenebras non cum- 
preseron ley. 6 Home fo trames de 
dio alqual era nom Johan . 7 Aquest 
venc en testimoni, quel dones testi- 
moni de lume que tuit cresessan par 
luy. 8 El non era lucz, mas quel 
dones testimoni de lume. 9 Lucz 
era veraya laqual enlumena tot home 
venent en aquest mont. 10 El era 
al mont, e lo mont fo fayt par luy, 
e la mont non conoc luy. " El venc 
en las proprias: e li seo non receo- 
pron luy. 12 Mas calsque quals re- 
ceopron luy, done a lor poesta esser 
fayt filh de dio, aquilh liqual creo 
(sic) al nom de luy. I3 Liqual non 
son de sane, ni de volonta de earn, 
ni de deleit dome (sic) mas son na 
de dio. 14 E la parolla fo fayta earn 
e abite en nos, e nos veguen la glo- 
ria de luy, gloria enayma dun en- 
genra del payre, plen de gracia e de 
verita. 



Ztjkich MS. 

I Lo filh era al comenczament. E 
lo filh era enapres Dio. E Dio era 
lo filh. 2 Aiczo era al comencza- 
ment enapres Dio. 3 Totas cosas 
son faitas par luy. E alcuna cosa 
non es faita sencza luy. 4 'Czo che 
fo fait en luy era vita, e la vita era 
lucz de li home. 5 E la lucz luczit 
en las tenebras, e las tenebras non 
cumpreseron ley. 6 Home fo trames 
de Dio, alqual era nom Johan. 
7 Aquest venc en testimoni, chel 
dones testimoni de lume, que tuit 
cresesan par luy. 8 El non era lucz, 
mas quel dones testimoni de lume. 

9 Lucz era vraya laqual enlumena 
tot home venent en aquest mont. 

10 El era al mont, e lo mont fo fait 
par luy, e lo mont non conoc luy. 

II El venc en las proprias, e li seo 
non receopron luy. Ia Mas quanti 
quanti receopron luy done a lor po- 
testa esser fait filh de Dio : aquilh 
liqual creon al nom de luy. 13 Li- 
qual non son de sane, ni de volunta 
de earn, ni de deleit de baron, mas 
son na de Dio. 14 E la parolla fo 
faita cam, e habite en nos, e nos 
veguen la gloria de luy, gloria enay- 
ma d un engenra del paire plen de 
gracia e de verita. 



Class III.] TOULOUSE. 283 

have been used among the Waldenses, it is generally called a Waldensian version. 
Le Long and others have erroneously described it as an Italian version. 
II. The Grenoble MS., preserved in the library at Grenoble, contains precisely the same books as 
the preceding, and is written in the same dialect. It is supposed to belong to the 
thirteenth century, and has erroneously been called a Spanish version. 

III. The Zurich MS., C -y-§-§-, contains the New Testament, and is in the same dialect as the Dublin 

and Grenoble MSS.: it is believed to have been written between the years 1350 and 
1400. 

IV. The Lyons MS., No. 60, is preserved in the public library at Lyons. It contains the New 

Testament, a spurious Epistle to the Laodiceans, and about ten pages of scriptural 
reflections and quotations. The dialect is the same as that of the preceding MSS., but 
apparently the production of a later period, and the style is replete with Latinisms. 
V. The Paris MS., No. 8086, contains the New Testament written in a dialect very similar to that 
which we find in the older poems of the Troubadours. It is preserved in the Royal 
Library at Paris. 
VI. The Paris MS., No. 6833, contains the New Testament, and is described by Le Long as 
u J3iblia Catalana, seu veteri Lingua Provinciali." This MS. is also in the Eoyal Library 
at Paris. 
Dr. Gilly, in his edition of the Gospel of St. John from these MSS., published 1848, gives it as his 
opinion that the Paris MS. No. 8086 is perhaps a transcript of the earliest copy produced by Waldo, and 
possibly contains passages of earlier partial versions which were afloat before the time of Waldo. The 
Dublin, Zurich, and Grenoble MSS. display marks of a revised edition of the preceding, being more 
literal, and adhering more closely to the Latin text than the other codices. 



TOULOUSE. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

La paraoulo ero al coumenscoment , la paraoulo ero ambe Dious , e aquello paraoulo 
ero Dious. 2 Ero al coumenscoment ambe Dious. 3 Toutos caousos an estados faitos per 
ello , e res de 90 qua estat fait n'a estat fait sans ello. 4 Accos es en ello qu'ero la bido , 
e la bido ero la lumiero des homes. 6 E la lumiero a luzit dins las tenebros , e las 
tenebros nou Pan pas recepiudo. 6 Y ajec un home , appelat Jan, que fousquet enbouyat 
de Dious. 7 Benguet per estre temoue'n , e per randre temoignatge de la lumiero, afi que 
toutis crejescon per el. 8 N'ero pas el memo la lumiero , mes ero enbouyat per randre 
temoignatge a la lumiero. 9 Ero la beritablo lumiero qu'esclairo toutis les homes quand 
benen al mounde. 10 Ero dins le mounde , e le mounde a estat fait per ello; mes le mounde 
nou l'a pas counescudo. n Es bengut enta el , e les sious nou J'an pas recepiut. n Mes 
a toutis les que Tan recepiut , lour a dounat le dret d'estre fa'its les enfants de Dious , sale 
a toutis aquelis que crezen en soun noum ; 1S Glue nou soun pas nascuts del sang , ni de 
la boulountat de la car , ni de la boulountat de Thome , mes que soun nascuts de Dious. 
14 E la paraoulo a estado incarnado , e a habitat parmi nous aoutres , pleno de grascio e 
de beritat ; e aben bist sa glorio , uno glorio talo qu'es la del Fil unique bengut del Paire'. 

The Provencal or langue d"oc, the Romance dialect of Southern France, has already been noticed. 
During the middle ages it occupied as conspicuous a place among the languages of Europe as is held by 



284 INDO-EUKOPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

its rival the langue doil at the present day, and the few vestiges which yet remain of it are therefore 
invested with some degree of interest. These vestiges are to be traced in the mountainous parts of 
Languedoc, where, under the name of the dialect of Toulouse, a corrupt form of the langue d"oc is still 
spoken by the peasantry. As late as the seventeenth century, and perhaps still more recently, some 
poems have been occasionally published by native writers in this dialect. Through the influence of 
education and the press, it is now rapidly yielding its place to the language of modern France ; yet it 
has attracted the attention of the learned, and an attempt has been made to preserve a specimen of 
this curious relic of past ages before it passes into oblivion. About the year 1820, a translation was 
made of the Gospel of St. John into this dialect, under the care of a party of French literati ; and the 
version was published at Toulouse, under the title of " Le Sent Ebangely de - Nostre - Seignour Jesus 
Christ seloun Sent Jan; traduit eh Lengo Toulouzenzo." 



-~$- 



YAUDOIS. 

SPECIMEN, EROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Ar coumen9ament era la Parola ; et la Parola era ensem a Diou ; et sta Parola era 
Diou : 2 1 11 era ar coumencament ensem a Diou. 3 Tute le cose soun ista faite da ili, et 
sansa ili ren de 90 qu'e ista fait e. ista fait. 4 En ili era la vita, et la vita era lou kiar di 
hom. 5 E lou kiar luss ent la neuit-scura, ma la neuit-scura Tha pa arcevii. 6 L'a-y-e 
ista un hom qu'avia nom Jean, qu'e ista manda da Diou, 7 A 1 e vengii per rende 
testimouniali, per rende, veui di, testimouniali ar Kiar, per que tui creyessen perque d'el. 
8 A 1 era pa lou Kiar, ma a 1 era manda per rende testimouniali ar Kiar. 9 Quel Kiar era 
lou veritable, que fai kiar a tut hom que ven ar mount. 10 A 1 era ar mount, et lou mount 
e ista fait da el ; ma lou mount l'ha pa counouissii. u A 1 e vengu a so ca ; et li seui Than 
pa arcevii ; 12 Ma a tui quili que Than arcevii, a i ll'ha douna lou drit d'esse fait meina de 
Diou ; assave, a quili que cren en so nom ; 13 Quili eiqui soun pa neissu de sang, ni de la 
voulenta de la earn, ni de la voulenta de Thorn ; ma i soun neissu de Diou. 14 E la Parola 
e ista faita earn, i 11 ha habita entra noii, et nous han ben buck sou a gloria, que ista, una 
gloria com la gloria dar Fill unic dar Pare, piena de grassia et de verita. 

The Vaudois dialect, a modification of the old Provencal language, is spoken on the east or Italian 
side of the Cottian Alps, in the three high valleys of Lucerna, Perosa, and San Martino. These 
valleys average about twenty-two miles as the greatest length, and eighteen as the greatest breadth, 
and include a population of about 20,000: since the year 1814, they have been re-annexed to the 
dominions of the King of Sardinia. 

The Vaudois, or Waldenses, as they are sometimes called, maintain to this day the pure form of 
primitive Christianity, to which they stedfastly adhered during the long ages of papal superstition. 
As a religious body, bearing witness against the corruptions of the Church of Rome, the Waldenses 
seem to have originated at a very early period in Southern France: in A.D. 1184 they were excom- 
municated by the pope at the Council of Verona, and soon afterwards they spread themselves in the 
South of France, the North of Italy, and Germany. 

The identity of the Vaudois with the Waldenses, has, however, been contested by recent writers, 



Class III.] 



VAUDOIS. 



28c 



and a more rigid investigation of historical particulars has led to the supposition, that, " whatever these 
professors of a purer faith might have had in common, there were certain points on which they differed, 
and certain local references and relations by which they were distinguished from each other." Yet 
it is certain that the ancient version of the Scriptures, described in a previous memoir, was in use among 
tliem. Waldo, or Waldensis, who was probably the main agent in producing this translation, was 
a rich merchant of Lyons. His attention, it is said, was first turned to religious subjects by hearing 
a troubadour recite, in the streets of Lyons, a poem in favour of voluntary poverty, called, " The Life 
of Alexis." Waldo invited the troubadour to his house, and was so affected by his conversation (for 
many of the troubadours were men of deep piety), that he went the next day to the school of Theology, 
to seek instruction in the way of salvation. The celebrated master to whom he addressed himself, referred 
him to these words of our Lord — "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give to 
the poor." Waldo acted in accordance with the spirit of this exhortation, and a portion of his funds 
was appropriated to the payment of two priests for translating the Scriptures into the vernacular tongue. 
This translation was greatly blessed by God to the edification of these early Christians, and supported 
them in the endurance of many cruel persecutions; in one of which, that of 1686, 11,000 of their 
number perished, and the survivors, who amounted only to about 3000, were driven from their homes. 
It was said of these Waldenses by one of their enemies, " They instruct even little girls in the Gospels 
and Epistles, that they may be brought to embrace their doctrines even from childhood." .... "All, 
without exception, men and women, small and great, cease not day and night to receive and to give 
instruction. The labourer who toils during the day, either learns or teaches at night." 

The descendants of these faithful people, as the Vaudois are generally considered, have not 
been forgotten in the efforts made within recent years for the general distribution of the Scriptures. In 
1830, a specimen of a translation of the Gospels of St. Luke and St. John into the dialect now spoken 
by the Vaudois of Pielmont, was forwarded by Lieut.-Col. Beckwith to the Committee of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society. The translator was the Rev. Mr. Berte, pastor of La Tour. The Society 
undertook to publish 1000 copies, in parallel columns with Martin's French version, and the edition 
was carried through the press by Colonel Beckwith and the Bev. T. Sims. In 1832, 600 copies had 
been distributed among the Vaudois, and another edition was called for. The Society therefore 
published 2000 copies, the press being corrected by the Rev. T. Sims. The last notice we have received 
of this version occurs in a letter from Colonel Beckwith, dated 1840, in which he states that the 
Gospels sent into North Italy are freely circulating among the Protestants. With the progress of 
education, however, the use of the modern French language is rapidly gaining ground among these 
valleys. French is the medium of instruction in all the schools, and all the books in general circulation 
(with the exception of the early literary works) are in that language. French seems to have been first 
employed as a vehicle of public instruction by those pastors whom the Vaudois obtained from France 
and Switzerland, when their own ministers were almost all cut off by the plague of 1630: Martin's 
French version is now more generally read by them than the Vaudois Gospels. The Sardinian govern- 
ment has of late years accorded perfect tolerance to the Vaudois in the exercise of their pure and 
simple worship. 



286 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [CiAss III. 

PIED MONTE SE. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Su '1 prinsipi a 1 era la Parola, e la Parola a 1 era coun Iddiou ; e sta Parola a 1 era 
Diou. 2 A 1 era su '1 prinsipi coun Diou. 3 Ogni cosa ale staita faita da chila, e sensa 
chila niente de Ion ch'a 1 e stait fait ale stait fait. 4 Ent chila a 1 era la vita, e la vita a 
1 era la luce d'i omini. 5 E la luce a lus ent le tenebre, ma le tenebre a Than nen 
arcounoussu-la. 6 A i e sta-ie un om ch'a se ciamava Giouan, ch'a 1 e stait manda da 
Iddiou. 7 A 1 e venu per rendi testimouniansa, per rendi, i tournou di, testimouniansa a 
la Luce, per che tutti a credeissou su soua parola. 8 A 1 era nen chiel la Luce, ma a I era 
manda per rendi testimouniansa a la Luce. 9 Sta Luce a 1 era la vera, coula ch'a illumina 
ogni om ch'a ven al mound. 10 Chila a 1 era al mound, e '1 mound ale stait fait da chila; 
ma '1 mound a l'ha nen counoussu-la. 11 A 1 e venu a soua ca ; e i so a Than nen ricevii- 
lou. 12 Ma a tutti coui ch'a Than ricevii-lou, a 1 ha da-ie '1 drit d' essi fait fieui d' Iddiou; 
doe, a coui ch'a credou a so nom ; 13 1 quai a soun nen nassu de sang, ne de la voulounta 
de la earn, ne de la voulounta de l'om ; ma a soun nassu da Iddiou. 14 E la Parola a 1 e 
staita faita earn, a 1 ha fait soua abitassioun en mes de noui, e i avouma ben amira soua 
gloria, laqual ale staita una gloria coum la gloria del Fieul unic del Pare, piena de 
grassia e de verita. 

Piedmont, which constitutes the most valuable part of the Sardinian dominions, is an extensive 
plain, stretching, as its name imports {Pie di monte), from the foot of the Alps to that of the Apennines. 
The total number of inhabitants amounted, in 1857, to upwards of 3,000,000. A Romance dialect 
called Piedmontese is still spoken in Piedmont: it is closely allied to the old Provencal language of 
Southern France, but has of late admitted many Italian words. Le Long speaks of a MS. of the 
New Testament written about the year 1500, and preserved (as above mentioned) at Zurich; but 
it is probable that this was only a copy made for the use of the Piedmontese from the celebrated 
Provencal version of the Waldenses already described. This Piedmontese New Testament was among 
the list of books prohibited at Eome in 1740, by a decree of the Congregation of the Index of 
Prohibited Books. 

In 1831, a translation of the New Testament, faithfully rendered from Martin's French version into 
modern Piedmontese, was forwarded to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
by Lieut.-Colonel Beckwith. The translation had been made by the Rev. Mr. Berte, pastor of La 
Tour, and Mr. Geymet of Lausanne. An edition of 1000 copies, printed in the same form and type as 
the Vaudois Gospels, was completed by the Society in 1834, and the press was corrected by Lieut.- 
Colonel Beckwith. In 1837, 2000 copies of the Gospels of St. Luke and St. John were issued by the 
Society, in parallel columns with the French text. This edition was followed, in 1841, by the publi- 
cation of a Piedmontese version of the Psalms, executed from Diodati's Italian version. The edition of 
the Psalms consisted of 1000 copies, printed in parallel columns with the Italian text. Owing to the 
interested opposition of the Romish priesthood, these editions did not obtain so rapid a circulation as 
might have been anticipated; and in 1840 the Society's version of the New Testament was put on the 
Index of forbidden books at Rome. But within recent years, the policy pursued by the Sardinian 
government in this regard has been one of tolerance, if not of encouragement. At the present moment 
the sale of Bibles is great at Turin ; there are shops opened for the purpose simply as a matter of profit : 
the higher classes especially have become readers of the Bible. Sardinia, indeed, presents the only 
bright spot in the whole of Italy, in so far as the circulation of the Word of God is concerned. 



Class III.] 



ROMANESE. 



287 



ROMANESE, ROMONSCH, 

OR UPPER AND LOWER ENGHADINE. 

vi^spECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap, i. v. 1 to 14. 

k o ^HDIl' ENGHADINE. 



ENGHADINE. 



1 In il principi eira il Pled, e '1 Pled eira 
pro Deis, e '1 Pled eira Dieu. 2 Quel eira 
in il principi pro Deis. 3 Ogni chiaussa 
ais fatta tras quel ; e sainza quel ingiina 
chiaussa fatta nun ais stat fatta. 4 In 
el eira la vita, e la vita eira la liim dalla 
glieud. 5 E la liim liischa in las sciirezas, 
e las sciirezas nun l'haun compraisa. 
6 E suo iin horn tramiss da Dieu, il nom 
dal qual eira Joannes. 7 Quaist venn per 
testimonianza, a. fin da dar perdiitta dalla 
Liim, acib chia tuots crajessen tras el. 
8 E1 nun eira la Liim, anzi eira tramiss per 
dar perdiitta dalla Liim. 9 Quel chi ais la 
vaira Liim, la quala iliumna ogni crastian 
chi vain in il muond, 10 Eira in il muond, 
e '1 muond ais fat tras quel ; mo'l muond nun 
l'ha cognoschii. n El ais gnii in sia ehasa, 
e 'Is seis nun l'haun ardsfii. 12 Mo a tuots 
quels chi l'haun ardsfii, ils quals crajen in 
seis Nom, ils ha el dat quaista radschun, 
d'esser fats iffaunts da Dieu. 13 Ils quals 
brichia da saung, ne da volunta da charn, 
ne da volunta d'hom, mo sun nads da Dieu. 
14 E '1 Pled ais stat fat charn, ed ha habita 
taunter nus, [e nus havain contempla. sia 
gloria, sco dal unigenit procedu dal Bap] 
plaina d'gratia, e d'varda. 



1 Enten l'Antschetta fov' ilg Plaid, ad 
ilg Plaid fova tier Deus ; ad ilg Plaid era 
Deus. 2 Quel fova enten l'Antschetta tiers 
Deus. 3 Tuttas caussas ean fachias tras 
el ; a fenz' el eis ei faig nagutta, da quei 
ch'ei faig. 4 Enten el fova la Vitta, a la 
Vitta era la Lgisch d'ils Carstiauns. 5 A 
quella Lgisch dat Clarezia enten la Sciira- 
dengia, mo las Sciiradengias ilg han bucca 
cumpilgiau. 6 Ei fov' iin Hum tarmess da 
Deus ca veva Num Johannes. 7 Quel van- 
git par esser Pardichia, par dar Pardichia 
da la Lgisch, par ca tuts cartessen tras el. 
8 El era bucca la Lgisch, mo tarmess par 
dar Pardichia da la Lgisch. 9 Quel ca ei 
la vera Lgisch, ca dat Clarezia a minchia 
Carstiaun ca ven ent ilg Mund ; 10 Fova 
ent ilg Mund, ad ilg Mund ei faigs tras el ; 
ad ilg Mund ilg ha buc ancunaschieu. 11 E1 
ei vangeus ent ilg sieu, ad ils se^s ilg han 
bucca prieu si. 12 Mo tonts sc'ilg han prieu 
si, sch'ils ha'l dau pussonza da daventar 
uffonts da Deus ; numnadameng a quels 
ca crein enten sieu num. 13 Ils quals ean 
naschi, bucca da saung ne da la velgia da 
la earn, ne da la velgia d'ilg Hum; mo da 
Deus. 14 A quei plaid ei daventaus earn, ad 
ha avdau tenter nus, a nus vein vieu sia 
Gliergia: iinna Gliergia sco d'ilg parful- 
nascheu d'ilg Bab, pleins d'grazia, a 
vardad. 



The Grisons, anciently part of Rhoetia, constitute the south-eastern angle of Switzerland, and 
occupy an area of from 2500 to 3000 square miles. The inhabitants amounted in number (in 1849) 
to 89,840: of this population, about two-fifths are of Germanic and about one-tenth of Italian origin: 
the Protestants are supposed to number about 62,000 individuals, the remainder being chiefly Roman 
Catholics. The mountainous parts of this canton are inhabited by the little Romanese nation. The 
Enghadine, or valley of the Inn, on the borders of the Tyrol, is inhabited by a section of this people, 
to whom a Romanese dialect called Churwelsch^ is vernacular. The other Romanese dialect is called 
Ladiniche, and is spoken in the valley of the Rhine, on the confines of Italy. Both these dialects are 
derived form the Latin tongue, and preserve to this day the most striking characteristics of the Romance 



288 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

languages; and they contain among other elements, some Etruscan words, which seem to point to a 
time anterior to the present division of languages for the origin of these dialects. 

The New Testament was printed in the former of these dialects in 1560, and the whole Bible in 
1679. In the latter, the Bible was published in 1719. These editions were all printed in the Grisons, 
buTthey were soon exhausted, and as no further impressions were issued, a copy was scarcely attainable 
at the beginning of the present century. A company of Christians at Basle, therefore, projected an 
edition for the use of these mountaineers, and under the auspices of the Basle Bible Society, and with 
the aid of the parent institution, the New Testament in Churwelsche left the press in 1810. But when 
the poor Ladins heard what a treasure their neighbours on the Tyrolese frontier had got, they expressed 
a very strong desire to have the same in their dialect. The Bible Societies of London and Basle promptly 
consented to grant them this boon, and in 1813 an edition of 2000 copies of the New Testament in 
Ladiniche had left the press. 

Several subsequent editions of the New and Old Testaments have been issued by the Basle Bible 
Society in both dialects. The last edition of which we have any particular account was that of 1834, 
published at the expense of the British and Foreign, the Coire, and the Geneva Bible Societies : it 
consisted of 2000 copies of the New Testament, and was chiefly designed for a considerable number 
of shepherds who pass away the summer in the mountains, without the aid of any religious instruction. 
The Rev. Colany N£e, of Leme, remarked on this occasion, " The Spirit of God has scarcely begun 
to be heard in a whisper in these mountains; but I have found, generally speaking, that the word 
of God is esteemed, and frequently read, and that it is in the possession of most of the Protestant 
families in the canton." 

We add a specimen of the Enghadine dialect of earlier date (1640): — 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 12. 

In T principi eira 1' Plsed : & 1' Plsed eira tiers Dieu ; & Dieu eira 1' plsed. 2 Quel 
eira in principi tiers Dieu. 8 Tuottas chioffes fun fattas trees el : & fajnza el eis fat 
unguotta da que chi eis fat. 4 In el eira la vita, & la vita eira la lgiifch de la glieut. 5 Et 
la Lgusch lguscha in la fchiirezza, & las fchiirezzas nun 1' haun compraifa. 6 Un horn 
tramis da Dieu eira, cum nom Joannes. 7 Quel venn per effer perdiita, accio ch' el defs 
perdiita de la Lgusch : per chi a tuots craieffen trses el. 8 El nun eira la Lgusch ma per 
ch' el rendefs teftimonianza de la Lgusch : 9 Quel eira la vaira Lgusch, chi inlgitmna 
fee-dim horn chi vain in 1' muond. 10 El eira in 1' muond, & 1' muond eis fat trses el : & 1' 
muond nun 1' ho cuntfehieu. n El eis gnieu fiin 1' fieu, & Fs feis nun l'haun prains fii. 
12 Mu quaunts chi 1' haun prains fii, ho el do ad els puffaunza da dvanter filgs da Dieu, a 
quels chi craien in fieu Nom. 



CLASS IIL-INDO-EUKOPEAN LANGUAGES. 

F. THRACO-ILLYRIAN FAMILY. 



ALBANIAN. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Ks nspnapa iff (pyiaXXia, s (fiyiaXXia iff ps HspvTivs ndaicE, e &yiaXXia 
iff UepvTL. ILsyio iff ke nspnapa names [is llspvTivs. Ispiua npsiy aaaiy 
ov nsvs, s na ars vovk ov tte vtovle yica <ra yidvs nspps. 4 Mna te Vote ysTa, 
s ysra iff dpir s visps^ET. E dptra Xapup vrs spsaips, s spscripa gjxovvt ra fxndys 

' f 6 X7-N • V ■ \ *" / \ TT / ■» » « ■> T ' 1 T7- f" " $ N 

ars. xLe vis vispi csprovaps y/ca lispvTia, Efisp iriy Iwavv. Koviy spot nsp 
fiaprvpi, re fiaprvptays nsp Sptrs, ke te nsGoysvs n9s /.is avs te Tiy. 8 AX vovks 

KE SptTa, 7TO 7TSp TE SsVS fiapTVpl nsp SpiTE. 9 I(TTE SpiTa E fispTETE, KE VTpiT tZ,So 

vispi ics fiyisv vts kete ysTS. 10 Nts. ttote ke, e noTa npsiy ai ke Tripps, s noTa 

VOVK £ PlOyOV aTE. JStE TE TiyTE Spdl, E TE TiyTE aTE VOVK E CSt,VE. E Ga KE 

€ dsc,vE aTE, ov ca aTovps sloven te nsviavs niyT £ llspvTias, pin ara ke 

7TEGOVUVE flTT SflEp TE Tiy. ™ ATa CLQ TTpsLy rittKOVT, CLQ npsiy QsklflET (TE KOVp/llT, 

clq npsiy OeXijxet as novppiT, no npsiy IJspvTias Xivs. li E (j)yiaXia ov ns vispi, 

S VTEVl \in\ vkfisT VTS KOVpfl TS VLSpiOVT, (fi na.f.1 Xs^lf.LV ETLJ, nOGl XsfiSlfl TE 

nippiT ff£ fisTEfis yKa nana'i) nXioT pes dovpsTi, s pis te fispTETE. 



I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

This language is vernacular in Albania, a country which, in point of situation and extent, coincides 
with the ancient Epirus and Illyricum. It lies partly opposite to the Ionian Islands, and extends for 
more than 250 miles along the Mediterranean and Adriatic coasts. The Arnauts or Skipetars (as the 
Albanians are usually called) differ in language and in physical conformation from all the other tribes 
of Europe, and are supposed to be the descendants of the ancient Illyrians. 

The total population of Albania amounts, according to a recent writer, to about 1,600,000, amongst 
whom are 200,000 Greeks. But the Arnaut race is also extensively dispersed throughout the modern 
kingdom of Greece (within which the Albanians number 173,000 individuals), and in some of the 
neighbouring provinces of Turkey, and is found scattered over the countries of south-eastern Europe in 
general. Albanians constituted, at one time, the entire population of Hydra, Spezzia, Paros, and other 
Greek islands, and they are to be met with in Servia, and on the coasts of Calabria, in Southern Italy. 

20 



290 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

The entire number of persons belonging to tbe Albanian race is about two millions. They belong, for 
the most part, to the Greek Church, but many are Mohammedans. The inhabitants of Albania proper 
are nominally subject to Turkey, but are ruled by chieftains who are in a great measure independent: 
they are wild and predatory in their habits, and are equally dreaded by their Greek and Turkish 
neighbours. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The learned Leibnitz was the first to think that the Albanian language was allied to the Celtic 
family; a surmise which subsequent discoveries have proved correct. The Albanians (i.e. inhabitants 
of Alps, like the Gaelic Albanach, and the Irish, Alban for Scotland, Albion for England) call them- 
selves Skipetars, which in their language means rocky-land, or country. The language they speak 
consists more than one half of words derived, most from the Latin, Greek, German; less from the 
Turkish, and least from the Sclavonic: the other half forms the Albanian tongue properly so called, 
a remnant of the aboriginal idiom, which bears affinity to the Basque, and to other Celtic and primeval 
dialects. It also contains words from the Coptic; and others which, through their Germanic affinity, 
bear strong resemblance to English terms. It is a peculiar, and, from its antiquity, an interesting 
language, which was unwritten till about the beginning of the seventeenth century, when E. D. F. 
Blanchus or Bianchi, a Roman Catholic missionary, wrote the Dictionarium Latino-Epiroticum, printed 
in Rome, 1635, in 8vo. P. Budi da Pietra Bianca translated Bellarmin's Catechism, which was printed 
in Rome, 1665, in 12 mo. P. Bogolanus composed in Albanian and Italian the Cuneus Prophetarum, 
Patavii, 1685, 2 vols, in folio; and Francesco Maria da Lecce, a member of the Propaganda, made an 
attempt to reduce it to rule, and eventually embodied it in a grammar, which he called, " a new sign 
in the grammatical heavens." An alphabet peculiar to that language was introduced when it was first 
cultivated; but the Greek characters, with various signs to denote the peculiar sounds of the language, 
are now generally used in printing Albanian books : the books printed in Italy, however, are all in 
Latin letters. 

III. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The Albanians possessed no version of the Scriptures till the year 1819, when Dr. Pinkerton, 
agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, employed a native Albanian (by name Evangelos 
Mexicos) to prepare a translation of the New Testament into Albanian. This native had been 
recommended to Dr. Pinkerton by some of the first dignitaries of the Greek communion, as a person 
eminently qualified for the work. The revision of Mr. Mexicos' labours was entrusted to Gregory, 
archbishop of Negropont. The translation and entire revision of the New Testament was accomplished 
in 1825, and in the same year an edition of the Gospel of St. Matthew, printed in parallel columns 
with the Greek version by Hilarion, was struck off for immediate distribution. The Testament was 
completed at press in 1827, at Corfu, under the superintendence of the Rev. I. Lowndes. The whole 
expense of the work was borne by the Ionian Bible Society. Opportunities for its circulation have 
hitherto been few, and it never reached a second edition. It has, however, been recently determined 
by the British and Foreign Bible Society to print an edition of the New Testament in parallel Greek 
and Albanian, and this work is in course of preparation at Athens. In the course of a visit to Albania 
in 1856, Mr. Lowndes (the Society's agent) observed many encouraging indications of a growing 
demand for the Word of God. 



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CLASS IIL-INDO-EUEOPEAN LANGUAGES. 

C. SCLAVONIC FAMILY. 



SCLAVONIC. 

FOR SPECIMEN OE THE SCLAVONIC VERSION, see Plate 6, page 291. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. 

The Sclavonic nations, generally supposed to be descended from the ancient Sarmate or Sauromatas, 
are frequently mentioned by the Byzantine historians under the various appeUations of Slavi, Antae, 
Vandales, Veneti, and Vendes. They now occupy more than one-third of Europe, and number 
upwards of 60.000,000 individuals. Various dialects prevail among this great family of tribes, but the 
lituroic or old church dialect, in which the ancient Sclavonic version of the Scriptures and the Liturgy 
of the Eussian Church are written, is now extinct: it is elevated to the rank of a sacred language, and 
in Bussia is employed exclusively for ecclesiastical purposes, and in public worship. It is impossible, 
at this distance of time, to ascertain with any degree of precision by what tribe or tribes this ancient 
dialect was spoken, or in what region it was vernacular; but as Cyril and Methodius, the great apostles 
of the Sclavonians, laboured among the Servians, Moravians, and Carniolans, there can be little doubt 
that the version prepared by them for the edification of these tribes was written in the idiom then most 
generally understood among them. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OE THE LANGUAGE. 

The old Sclavonic dialect, as exhibited in the specimen given, was at one time imagined to 
be the original idiom of this family, and the parent of all modern Sclavonic dialects. More accurate 
investigation, however, has proved that it was only one of the dialects spoken by these tribes 
during the ninth century: notwithstanding its high antiquity and rare perfection of form, it is, 
therefore, only entitled to rank as an elder dialect of the Sclavonic language. Almost all the elements 
of the Sclavonic languages, however, enter into its composition, but divested of the foreign admixture 
which time and political changes have induced in them; hence it is through the medium of this 
ancient dialect that the original intimate connection of the Sclavonic with the Sanscrit, Greek, and 
Latin languages can be most clearly traced. 

But even in this old Sclavonic we see the influence of a heterogeneous idiom, Finnish, Turkish, or 
Tartar, which acted on it during the long centuries of darkness, when the nomadic tribes to whom it was 
vernacular were in the steppes of Scythia, among the defiles of Caucasus, or on the shores of the Black 
Sea. Still, the old Sanscrit type is more faithfully preserved in Sclavonic than in Latin, or even in 
Greek. " Of three sisters," says Dankovsky, " one kept faithful to her mother tongue — the Sclavonic; 
the second gave to that common heritage the highest cultivation — the Greek ; and the third mixed the 
mother tongue with a foreign idiom — the Latin." Like Sanscrit, the old Sclavonic dialect possesses 



292 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

three numbers, three genders, and seven cases, a perfect system of prefixes and affixes, and an unlimited 
power of forming compound words. At the time of the immigration of the Sclaves or Sclavonic tribes 
from Asia into Europe, the Sclavonic language was probably one. Subsequently, however, it branched 
off into Eastern and Western dialects; the Eastern spoken by the Russians, Servians or Illyrians, 
Bulgarians and Croats, Styrians and Carinthians: and the Western by the Slovaks in Hungary, the 
Czeks in Bohemia, the Wends in Lusatia, the Sorabrians, and the Poles. Those several dialects are 
again subdivided into an infinity of minor and local idioms; which attest both the richness and the 
extraordinary flexibility of the Sclavonic language, which is soft, melodious, elegant, and capable of 
great refinement of expression, and of precision of terms. On account of its affinity with Greek, one 
of the greatest scholars of our time contends that a knowledge of Sclavonic is of the utmost use in the 
study of the Greek language, by clearing up difficult passages, and showing the signification of doubtful 
words. The distinguishing peculiarity of the Sclavonic lies in its method of conjugation. Its verbs 
are rather deficient in variety of termination, but by means of certain additions in the body of the 
radical, they can express in their most delicate gradations, not only the moods and tenses, but the 
different conditions of an action, such as its extent, its actuality, its frequency of occurrence, its 
accomplishment. 

III. — ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. 

It is commonly thought that the Sclavonic tribes possessed no alphabet of their own till the ninth 
century, when an alphabet, called from the name of the inventor, the Cyrillian, was introduced for the 
purpose of writing a translation of the Scriptures. This alphabet, however, is merely an adaptation of 
Greek characters, with additional forms borrowed from the Armenian and other oriental alphabets, to 
express such Sclavonic articulations as have no existence in Greek. It possesses no less than seven 
sibilants, all of which are perfectly distinct from each other, and can scarcely be expressed by Roman 
characters. The consonants I and r are considered as vowels. A farther modification of the Cyrillian 
alphabet was introduced during the thirteenth century by a monk of Dalmatia; it is called the Glagolitic, 
and sometimes the Hieronymian, because falsely attributed to Jerome. Several copies of the Sclavonic 
Scriptures have been written in this character, of which the oldest monument is a Psalter of the thir- 
teenth century. 

IV. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The Sclavonic version is a faithful and literal representation of the original Greek text. It was 
chiefly executed during the ninth century by Cyril and Methodius, the first missionaries to the 
Sclavonians. The name of the former was properly Constantine, but he assumed the name of Cyril 
(by which he is more generally known) about forty days before his death. He and his brother 
Methodius were the sons of Leo, a Greek nobleman of Thessalonica. Cyril, though the younger of the 
two, was the most noted for his profound knowledge of Scripture and of the writings of the Greek 
fathers: in his youth he enjoyed the best education as companion to the young Prince Michael, but, 
undazzled by the prospect of worldly distinction, he withdrew from court, and in a monastery near the 
shores of the Black Sea prepared himself for the active duties of his laborious career. Methodius 
originally held an appointment in the army, and afterwards, for the space of ten years, was governor 
on the Sclavonian frontiers, where he had ample opportunity for the study of the Sclavonian dialects. 
Pie also retired from public life, and secluded himself for a time in a monastery on Mount Olympus. 
He then joined his brother in a mission to the Khazars, a Hunnic-Tartaric tribe; and at a subsequent 
period he accompanied him to Moravia, where they spent four years and a half in translating the 
Scriptures and instructing the inhabitant in the truths of Christianity. Their next journey was to 
Rome, where Cyril died. Methodius returned to Moravia, to prosecute the great work which they had 
jointly commenced; he died in 880. 

The Sclavonic version is commonly said to have been the joint production of these missionaries, 



Class III.] SCLAVONIC. 293 

but it is uncertain whether all the books of Scripture were translated by them. Nestor, in his Annals, 
states that " they translated the Apostles (i. e. the Epistles) and the Gospels; and then they also trans- 
lated the Psalter, the Octateuch, and the other books." It seems most probable that they completed a 
version of the New Testament and of the Psalms, and that the remaining portions of the sacred volume 
were added by other hands. It would be difficult, by any other hypothesis, to account for the extreme 
scarcity and the recent date of MS. copies of the entire Sclavonic Bible; only three such copies are 
now known to be in existence, and of these, the most ancient bears the date of 1499 : whereas codices 
of the New Testament, belonging to the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, are 
frequently to be met with in Russia and other countries. The book of Proverbs is believed to have 
been translated before, or in, the twelfth century, as the quotations made from it by Nestor agree, on 
the whole, with the common text. The Prophetical Books and Job were translated, probably in Servia, 
in the thirteenth or fourteenth century; and the Pentateuch and other books seem to have been trans- 
lated in the fifteenth century, either in Russia or in Poland. At this latter period the several parts of 
the Sclavonic Scriptures were for the first time collected into one volume, and arranged in order like 
those of the Bohemian version which appeared in 1488. 

The first portion of the Sclavonic version committed to the press was the Psalter, an edition of 
which appeared in 1491 at Cracow in Poland: a reprint of this book was published in Montenegro, 
1495. The first edition of any part of the New Testament consisted of the Four Gospels, printed at 
Ugrovallachia, 1512. Another edition of the Gospels appeared at Belgrade, 1552, and a third edition 
in Montenegro, 1562. 

In 1553, the Czar Ivan Vasilievitch caused a revision of the Sclavonic text to be undertaken, with 
a view of rectifying the errors which had crept into it through the ignorance or carelessness of tran- 
scribers. A printing office was established at Moscow by the czar for the purpose ; the direction of the 
work was confided to Hans Bogbinder, a native of Denmark, and the printing was committed to Ivan 
FedorofT, deacon of the Hostun Cathedral, and Peter TimofeefF; but owing to a variety of obstacles the 
printing did not actually commence till ten years afterwards, and in 1564 appeared the first fruits of the 
typographical art in Russia, consisting of the Acts, the Catholic and the Pauline Epistles, taken, no 
doubt, from the best MSS. that could be then obtained in Moscow. Although executed under the 
immediate patronage of the czar, much hostility was excited by the appearance of this work ; the printers 
were accused of heresy and magic, and were compelled to flee the country. FedorofT took refuge in 
Leopolstadt, where he republished the Acts and Epistles in 1573, and TimofeefF settled in Wilna, 
where he printed an edition of the Sclavonic Gospels in 1575. 

In 1577, an edition of the Psalms issued from the Moscow press; and about the same period 
Constantine, Duke of Ostrog, formed the noble design of publishing an edition of the entire Scriptures 
at his own expense, as the most effectual means of silencing the controversies then in agitation between 
the Greek and Roman Churches. In order to secure the accuracy of the text, the duke made an 
extensive collection of Sclavonic MSS. He also caused the Sclavonic text to be collated with that of 
versions in other languages; but so many discrepancies were brought to light by this collation, that 
those who were hostile to the undertaking endeavoured to persuade the benevolent projector to 
abandon his design. So far, however, from yielding to despondency, he was only stimulated by these 
difficulties to greater perseverance, " in the certain hope that, by the divine blessing on his efforts, 
he should be enabled eventually to surmount them all." He therefore wrote to Italy, Greece, Servia, 
Bulgaria, and Constantinople, requesting that individuals skilled in the Greek and Sclavonic tongues 
might be sent to him, bringing with them the best-accredited copies of the sacred text. In compliance 
with this request, many learned men resorted to Ostrog; and after the necessary collations and 
corrections had been effected, the first edition of the Sclavonic New Testament was printed in 1580, 
accompanied with the Psalms. It was printed by FedorofT, the deacon originally employed by the 
czar at Moscow. 

In 1581, the first edition of the Sclavonic Bible left the Ostrog press. The editors did not 



294 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III 

merely adopt the text of trie Moscow edition, but consulted the Greek MSS. which had been brought 
for the purpose from Greece ; and it is probable that the text of this edition was also compared with 
other versions. 

The peculiar characteristics of the Sclavonic version may be concisely enumerated as follows, in 
the words of Dobrovsky: — 1. The Sclavonic version is very literally translated from the Greek, the 
Greek construction being frequently retained where it is contrary to the genius of the Sclavonian ; and 
it resembles in general the most ancient MSS. 2. In the Gospels it agrees with the Codex Stephani rj 
(L. at Paris), more frequently than with any other Greek MS. 3. In the Catholic Epistles it agrees 
in general with the Codex Alexandrinus, and frequently in the Revelation. 4. In the Acts, and in the 
Epistles of St. Paul, it agrees in general with the most ancient MSS. ; but sometimes with one, some- 
times with another, yet most frequently with Wetstein's Codex E. (Codex Laudianus at Oxford). 5. Of 
the readings adopted by Griesbach in the text of his Greek Testament, the Sclavonian version has at 
least three-fourths. 6. Where the united evidence of ancient MSS. is against the common printed 
reading, the Sclavonic version agrees with the ancient MSS. 7. It has not been altered from the 
Vulgate, as some have supposed, though the fact is in itself almost incredible. 8. It varies from the 
text of Theophylact in as many instances as they agree; and their coincidence is to be ascribed, not to 
an alteration from Theophylact, but to the circumstance that both Theophylact and the author of the 
Sclavonic version used the same edition of the original Greek. 9. The Sclavonic version has but few 
readings peculiar to itself, or what the critics call " lectiones singulares." The controverted passage, 
1 John v. 7, is not found in any MS. of the Sclavonic version, and was therefore omitted in the Ostrog 
edition. In the second edition of the Bible, published 1633, it obtained a place in the margin, where 
it was probably inserted on the authority of the Textus Receptus. In all modern editions, however, it 
is admitted into the text. 

Between the years 1581 and 1633 (the dates of the first and second editions of the Sclavonic 
Bible), seven editions of the entire New Testament, besides several reprints of the Gospels and Epistles, 
were published at Evie, near Wilna, at Wilna itself, at Kief, and other places. All these editions are 
of extreme rarity. 

The edition of the Bible of 1633 appeared at Moscow; it was projected by the Patriarch Nicon: 
but that learned man took no part in its emendation. It was professedly corrected with care, but only 
a few of the typographical faults of the former edition were removed; and such alterations as were 
introduced were trifling, and of little moment. 

In consequence of the numerous errors by which these two editions of the Sclavonic Bible were 
disfigured, a new translation was undertaken at the command of the czar, by Epiphanius Slavinetzky, 
a learned monk : he was appointed to prepare the work, in concert with other monks, under the eye 
of the metropolitan, and a solitary but agreeable retreat near Moscow was assigned to the company of 
translators. A rough copy of a version of the New Testament was just completed, when the death of 
the metropolitan arrested the progress of the work, and the design was completely relinquished. 

No farther steps were taken in the revision or printing of the Sclavonic Bible till the reign of 
Peter the Great. In the year 1712, that monarch issued an ukase, ordering the printed Sclavonic text 
to be carefully compared with the Greek of the Septuagint, and rendered in every respect conformable 
to it. Certain learned monks were appointed to execute this work, and were directed, on all doubtful 
points, to abide by the decision of Jaborsky, a dignitary of great eloquence and erudition, who after- 
wards rose to be president of the Holy Synod. While this work was in progress, Peter the Great 
caused an edition of the Sclavonic New Testament to be printed in parallel columns with the Dutch 
version, with the view, no doubt, of familiarising his subjects with the language of Holland, and of 
thus creating a closer connection between the two countries. This edition is now very scarce; a great 
discrepancy is observable in the space taken up by the two columns, the Dutch language not admitting 
of that conciseness with which the Sclavonic has imitated the original. A corresponding edition of 
the Old Testament, in parallel columns with the Dutch, was also projected by Peter; but it was never 



Class III. J EUSSIAN. 295 

printed, on account of the numerous discrepancies between the two versions, the one having been 
executed from the Hebrew, and the other from the Greek. An additional obstacle to this edition 
arose from the difference in the order of the books, and from the rejection of the Apocrypha by the 
Dutch. 

The revision of the Sclavonic version occupied nearly twelve years, and was not completed till 
the year 1723. In the beginning of the following year, Peter the Great ordered the revised copy to 
be put to the press; but his death during the course of that year greatly retarded the progress ol 
publication. Other obstacles, and the opposition of some of the members of the synod, occasioned 
still further delay, and it was not till 1751 that this revised edition was published. It was printed at 
St. Petersburg in a ponderous folio form, containing, besides the text, long and elaborate prefaces, 
with tables of contents, and other useful additions. This edition has served as the basis of all subsequent 
ones. Between the year of its publication and the year 1816, when the first stereotype edition 
printed by the Russian Bible Society left the press, not fewer than twenty-one impressions of the whole 
Sclavonic Bible, besides numerous editions of the New Testament, were put into circulation. The 
total number of Sclavonic Bibles and New Testaments issued by the Russian Bible Society, during the 
ten years of its active existence, amounts to 205,546. 



RUSSIAN. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THE EUSSIAJST VEESION, see Plate 6, page 291. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Russian empire, in point of extent, exceeds the most famous empires of antiquity, and numerous 
languages and dialects are spoken within its confines. The Russian language is vernacular in by far 
the greater part of European Russia, a vast territory, which includes an area of 2,000,000 English 
square miles, with a population which exceeds 60,000,000. The superficial extent of the entire empire 
has been estimated by Hassel at 372,935, and by Ivceppen at 364,388 German geographical square 
miles (equal to between 7 and 8,000,000 of English square miles). The Sclavonic portion of the 
population has been computed at nearly 46,000,000, or about three-fourths of the whole. The national 
religion of Russia is the Russo-Greek Church : since the time of Peter the Great the reigning emperor 
has been the acknowledged head of this Church, and all ecclesiastical affairs are under the direction 
of a synod appointed by him. The ritual is contained in twenty folio volumes, composed in the 
Old Sclavonic language. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Russian is the principal of the numerous languages and dialects which derive their origin 
from the Old Sclavonic. It was originally the dialect of the Antes, a Sclavonic people who, about the 
seventh or eighth century of our era, settled in the country now called Russia, and drove out the 
Schudi, or Finns, the previous occupiers of that vast territory. In 864, the Russian monarchy was 
founded by Ruric, a Scandinavian prince : he assumed the reins of government at the solicitation of the 
Antes, but his Scandinavian followers were too few in number to exert any perceptible influence on 
the language of his new subjects. Other idioms have, however, commingled more freely with it; 
and Finnish, Greek, Mongolian, Tartar, Polish, Dutch, German, and French words enter plentifully 
into its composition. 

These heterogeneous elements, while they add to the richness of the vocabulary, in no wise 



296 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass III. 

detract from the native symmetry of the Russian tongue. It is one of the most flexible of languages, 
and possesses in a remarkable degree the property of assimilating foreign words, employing them 
as roots; whence, by its own resources, it raises stems and branches. Even now, in proportion to 
the increasing civilisation of the people, the stores of the language are being increased by continual 
accessions from foreign sources. The most prominent grammatical features of the Old Sclavonic 
language are reproduced in the Russian, a circumstance which no doubt arises partly from the original 
connection between the two languages, and partly from the influence of the older idiom on the Russian ; 
for simultaneously with the introduction of Christianity in the tenth century, the Old Sclavonic was 
adopted in Russia as its liturgical and ecclesiastical language. The resemblance of Russian composition 
to that of the Latin is also very striking, and the hypothesis has even been started that Latin was 
originally a dialect of the Sclavonic, but this is simply because both have considerable affinity 
with the Sanscrit. Russian nouns possess three genders, two numbers, and seven cases, all of which 
(except the nominative and the vocative) are distinguished by different terminations: by means of 
these cases the transposition of words is often carried to a great extent in the construction of sentences, 
without occasioning ambiguity. The Russian language exceeds even the Italian in its immense stock 
of diminutives and augmentatives ; every noun has at least two augmentatives and three diminutives, 
and some have even more. On the other hand the number of conjunctions is extremely limited, but 
this deficiency rather tends to impart clearness of expression, by preventing the formation of long, 
involved sentences. 

Considering the vast extent of territory through which the Russian language is diffused, its 
provincial or dialectical variations are remarkably few in number. In fact, it has been observed, that 
an inhabitant of Archangel and one of Astracan, meeting at Moscow, would understand each other; 
and this conformity of language between provinces so remote is attributed to the use of the Old 
Sclavonic throughout Russia in the services of the Church. The Russian language admits but of two 
principal divisions, namely, Great Russian, the literary and official language of the nation, spoken in 
Moscow and the northern parts of the empire, and Little or Malo-Russian, which contains many 
obsolete forms of expression, and is predominant in the south of European Russia, especially towards 
the east. To these may be added the idiom of the Russniaks, spoken in the east of Galicia and the 
north-east of Hungary, which, though differing slightly in pronunciation, is essentially the same as the 
Malo-Russian; and the White Russian, or Polish Russian, spoken by the common people in parts of 
Lithuania and in White Russia. The characters used in writing Russian are a modification of the 
Old Sclavonian or Cyrillic. They were slightly altered in form by Peter the Great, and their number 
was reduced by him to thirty-four; since his time they have been subjected to few changes. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The earliest Russian version of the Scriptures was written in White Russian, a semi-Polish dialect, 
which arose in the beginning of the sixteenth century, in consequence of the connection then subsisting 
between Poland and Russia. Part of the Old Testament belonging to this version was printed at 
Prague in 1517-19; the Acts and Epistles appeared at Wilna, 1525. We have no information as to 
the circumstances under which this translation was executed. All that we now know about the trans- 
lator is, that his name was Skorina, that he was a doctor of medicine, and that he was born at Polotsk, 
and completed his version at Wilna. Certain portions only of his translation have as yet been dis- 
covered, but it is evident, from his prefaces to some of the books, that he translated, or intended to 
translate, the entire Scriptures. He drew his version from the Vulgate, but in particular passages he 
followed the readings of the Sclavonic, or of the Septuagint, whence it is derived. 

At the close of the seventeenth century, another attempt was made to produce a version of the 
Scriptures in the language then commonly spoken in Russia. The promoter of this version was 
Ernest Gliick, a native of Saxony, dean of the Lutheran Church in Livonia. The success which 
attended his translation of the Scriptures into the Lettish language, induced him to attempt a 



Class III.] RUSSIAN. 297 

Eussian version from the Old Sclavonic text, and he employed an aged Eussian priest to assist in the 
preparation of the work. Unhappily the translation was destroyed, with the whole of Gliick's MSS. 
and library, at the siege of Marienburg, in 1702, and he appears to have made no effort to recom- 
mence the work. 

The version most widely circulated in Eussia was prepared under the immediate auspices of the 
Eussian Bible Society. On the first formation of the Society, in 1813, great doubts were entertained 
as to the possibility of obtaining a version in the language of the people, on account of the prejudices 
of the clergy, and the veneration with which the Old Sclavonic version was regarded by all ranks of 
the community. In the beginning of the year 1816, copies of the versions printed by the Society in 
the languages spoken in distant parts of the empire were laid before the emperor, and he was much 
struck at perceiving that, while so many barbarous tribes had been thus put in possession of the oracles 
of God, " his own Russians still remained destitute of the boon mercifully designed to be freely com- 
municated to all." At his instigation, an order was immediately forwarded through the president of 
the Society to the Holy Synod, enjoining the translation of the New Testament into Modern Euss. 
The Synod acquiesced in the imperial mandate, and some of the most competent individuals connected 
with the spiritual academy of St. Petersburg were appointed to prepare a version : their work, when 
completed, was submitted for revision to the clerical members of the Bible Society, and, after three 
years had been devoted to the undertaking, an edition of the Four Gospels was struck off, in parallel 
columns with the Sclavonic text. Such was the demand for this work, that two editions, consisting 
of 15,000 copies, were issued during the course of the same year, and during the following year 
50,000 copies of the Gospels and Acts were printed and circulated. The first edition of the entire 
New Testament did not appear till 1823; it was printed without the accompaniment of the Sclavonic 
text. Eight months afterwards it was carefully stereotyped, and 20,000 copies struck off for immediate 
distribution, and other editions followed in quick succession from the Society's printing office at 
St. Petersburg. This version, although not exempt from verbal errors and omissions, ranks among 
the best of modern translations; it was executed from Greek MSS., and contains many indications of 
the critical spirit of research which characterises the nineteenth century. 

With respect to the Eussian version of the Old Testament, the first portion translated by command 
of the emperor was the Psalms, the chief preparation of which devolved on the Eev. Dr. Pavsky, of the 
cathedral of St. Petersburg, the first Hebrew scholar in the empire. The first edition appeared in 
1822, and consisted of 15,000 copies; yet so great was the demand, that within the space of two years 
no less than 100,000 copies left the press. This version was peculiarly acceptable in Eussia, on account 
of its being drawn immediately from the Hebrew text, whereas the Old Sclavonic, which it in a great 
measure superseded, was derived, as above stated, from the Septuagint. The translation of the other 
books of the Old Testament from the Hebrew proceeded under the direction of the spiritual academies 
of St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Kief; and an edition to consist of 10,000 copies of the Pentateuch, and 
the books of Joshua, Judges, and Euth, was subsequently undertaken. 

In 1826, however, the Eussian Bible Society was suspended by the ukase of the emperor Nicholas, 
and little intelligence has been obtained since that period concerning the circulation of the Bible in 
Eussia. So far as regards the distribution of this version, the laborious efforts of Henderson, Pinkerton, 
and Paterson, in promoting the organisation of the Society and preparation of the version, are now 
utterly fruitless; for the Society is virtually dissolved, and all its printing operations arrested. The 
admission of the Scriptures in the Modern Eussian tongue is still strictly forbidden by the authorities, 
acting under the influence of the Greek Church. The educated classes in Eussia are generally 
acquainted with French and German, and sometimes even English, and in these languages they can 
obtain copies of the Bible. But all the Eussian Testaments printed by the Society have been dis- 
tributed, and as another edition cannot for the present be obtained, the Eussian peasantry are debarred 
from the privilege of studying the Word of God. The only substitute they possess consists of two 
small volumes of scriptural extracts, set forth by the government, in the modern language. These 



298 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



[Class III. 



extracts consist of selections from Scripture, printed without note or comment; and as they point out 
the way of salvation through faith in the work of the Redeemer, they may be used as the means of 
awakening some to the knowledge of the truth. 



POLISH. 



SPECIMEN, FROM ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 



I Na poczatku bylo Slowo, a ono Slowo byio u Boga, 
a Bogiem byio ono Stowo. 2 To bylo na poczatku u 
Boga. 3 Wszystkie rzeczy przez nie sie c staly, a bez 
niego nic siq nie stalo, co sie stalo. 4 W niem byr 
zywot, a zywot byl ona^ swiatloscia ludska_. 5 A ta 
swiatlosc w ciemnosciach swieci, a ciemnosci iey nie 
ogarneiy. 6 Byf czlowiek poslany od Boga, ktoremu 
imie c bylo Ian. 7 Ten przyszedl na swiadectwo, 
aby swiadczyl o tey swiatlosci, aby przezen wszyscy 
uwierzyli. 8 Nie byici on ta c swiatlosci^, ale przyszedl, 
aby swiadczyl o tey swiatlosci. 9 Tenci byi ta c prawd- 
ziwa^ swiatloscia,,, ktora oswieca kazdego czlowieka, 
przychodza^ego na swiat. 10 Na swiecie byl, a swiat 
przezen uczyniony iest; ale go swiat nie poznal. 

II Do swey wiasnosci przyszedl, ale go wlasni iego 
nieprzyieli. 12 Lecz ktorzy go kolwiek przyieli, dal 
im tq moc, aby sie t stali synami Bozymi, to iest, tym, 
ktorzy wierza w imie^ iego ; 13 Ktorzy nie z krwi, ani 
z woli ciaia, ani z woli meia, ale z Boga narodzeni 
sa,. u A to Slowo cialem sie t stalo, i mieszkalo 
mie t dzy nami, (i widzielismy chwale^ iego, chwaiq 
iako iednorodzonego od oyca,) peine raski i prawdy. 



I Na pocza c tku bylo Slowo, a Srowo bylo u Boga, a 
Bogiem bylo Slowo. 2 To bylo na poczqtku u Boga. 
3 Wszystko sie^ przez nie stalo : a bez niego nic sie^ 
nie stalo, co siq stalo. 4 W nim byl zywot, a zywot 
byl swiatlosci^ ludzi : 5 A swiatlosc w ciemnosciach 
swieci, a ciemnosci iey nie ogarneiy. 6 Byl cztowiek 
poslany od Boga, ktoremu imie_ bylo Jan. 7 Ten 
przyszedl na swiadectwo : aby swiadczyl o swiatlosci, 
aby przezen wszyscy wierzyli. 8 Nie bylci on swiatto- 
sciaj ale izby swiadczyl o swiatlosci. 9 Bylac swiat- 
losc prawdziwa, ktora oswieca wszelkiego czlowieka 
na ten swiat przychodzacego. 10 Na swiecie byl, i 
swiat iest uczynion przezen, a swiat go nie poznal. 

II Przyszedi do swey wiasnosci, a swoi go nie przyieli. 
12 Lecz ktorzy kolwiekprzyieji go, tym dal moc aby 
sie^ stali synami Bozemi, tym ktorzy wierza^ w imie, 
iego. 13 Ktorzy nie ze krwie, ani z woli ciala, -ani z 
woli meza, ale z Boga siq narodzili. u A Slowo 
cialem siq, stalo, i mieszkalo miqdzy nami i widzie- 
lismy chwale„ iego, chwaie, iako iednorodzonego od 
Oyca, pelnego laski i prawdy. 



I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Since the partition of Poland, the Polish language has been diffused, by means of the Polish refugees, 
through several countries of Europe. About two-thirds of this once powerful kingdom belong to 
Russia, the remainder is divided between Austria and Prussia. The total amount of the Polish 
population is generally computed at about ten millions, of whom by far the greater number are 
Roman Catholics. 






II. — CHARACTERISTICS of the language. 

The Lekhes, by whom the Polish language was originally spoken, were a Sclavonic race akin to 
the Tchekhes of Bohemia: great affinity consequently prevails between the Polish and Bohemian 
languages. Many Germanisms occur in Polish, but the construction of the language resembles that 
of the classical tongues, and Polish prose is formed on the model of the Latin. To a foreigner, Polish 
appears more repulsive and difficult than any other Sclavonic language. This arises partly from the 
artificial nature of its grammatical system, but principally from the variety of shades in the pronun- 
ciation of the vowels, and from the numerous and peculiar combinations of the consonants; as well as 



Class III.] POLISH. 299 

from the peculiar nasal sounds, not found in other Sclavonic dialects, which are prevalent in Polish. 
Gothic characters are sometimes used in writing Polish, but the Latin are more frequently employed ; 
and it is to the disuse of the proper Sclavonic characters, and the adoption of an alphabet inadequate 
to express the sounds of the language, that many of the peculiarities of Polish orthography are to be 
attributed. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

A translation of the Scriptures into Polish is said, by competent authorities, to have been made 
prior to a.d. 1390, by order of Queen Hedwig, the first wife of Jagello. A translation of the Psalms, 
spoken of by Czacki, is thought to have formed part of this version; and the entire Bible, which 
belonged to Sophia, fourth queen of Jagello, may possibly have been a copy of it. The few biblical 
fragments now extant are of little use in determining this question, and are not considered of 
much value. 

Since the middle of the sixteenth century no fewer than six different Polish versions have been 
executed. The first in order of time was a translation of the New Testament, made by Seklucyan, a 
Lutheran, and competent Greek scholar: it was printed at Konigsberg in 1551, and was thrice 
reprinted before 1555. Several translations were afterwards made of the Psalms, but the first version 
of the entire Old Testament appeared at Cracow in 1561. It was translated from the Vulgate by 
Leonard, and was reprinted in 1575, and again in 1577. Although designed for Koman Catholics, 
it never received the sanction of the pope, because many passages had been taken from the Bohemian 
Bible. It is familiarly known as the " Old Cracow Bible," and copies are now very rare. The New 
Testament of this version first appeared at Cracow in 1556. 

The Radzivil Bible appeared at Brzesc in 1563. It was executed from the original texts by an 
anonymous translator for the Calvinists: it only passed through one edition, for prince Radzivil, at 
whose expense it had been made and printed, died soon after its publication, and his son, who was 
a Catholic, carefully bought up the copies, and burnt them. 

The Socinian Bible, translated by Budny, a Unitarian clergyman, from the original text3, was 
published at Nieswicz, in Lithuania, in 1570, and was reprinted at the same place in 1572. Only 
three copies of this version are extant. 

The Authorised Polish Bible was first printed at Cracow in 1599. It was designed for the 
Roman Catholics, and was sanctioned by Clement VIII. It is accounted one of the best European 
translations from the Vulgate, the language being pure and classical, though in some places slightly 
antiquated. The translator was Jacob Wuyck. Two other editions followed in 1740 and 1771, but 
the three editions did not comprise above 3000 copies. 

The Dantzic Bible, translated by Paliurus, Wengierscius, and Micolaievius, from the original 
texts, was set forth by the Reformed Church at Dantzic in 1632. This Bible had passed through six 
editions before the British and Foreign Bible Society commenced its operations; but these six editions 
did not probably comprise above 7000 copies, of which at least 3000 copies were bought up and 
destroyed by the Jesuits. 

In 1808, an edition of the Polish Scriptures was projected by the Berlin Bible Society, with the 
encouragement and aid of the Parent Society. The text selected was that of the Dantzic edition, which, 
after careful examination, was pronounced the best Polish translation that could be procured. The 
edition was completed in 1810, and consisted of 8000 Bibles and 4000 additional New Testaments. 
An edition of 5000 New Testaments, from the text of Jacob Wuyck, was commenced by the 
St. Petersburg Bible Society in 1813, and the principal inspection of the press was undertaken by the 
metropolitan of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia. Other editions from both of the above texts 
have been issued by the Continental Bible Societies, with the aid of the Parent Society. Dr. Pinkerton, 
in his " Russia," states that the number of copies printed for the St. Petersburg Bible Society was 
7000 Polish Bibles and 16,000 Testaments. The total number of copies printed by the British and 



300 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

Foreign Bible Society up to the end of 1859, is 34,902 Bibles, and 84,509 Testaments, together with 
42,020 copies of the New Testament and Psalms. The great hindrance to the diffusion of the Scriptures 
at the present time in Poland is the policy of Russia; for as two-thirds of Poland belong to that extensive 
empire, it is almost wholly subjected to the political influences by which the free circulation of the 
sacred volume is impeded in all the other portions of the Russian territories. 



BOHEMIAN. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

9la pocatfu fcijl'o <Sf owo, a to (Sfotoo b^l'o o SBoIja, a to ®f owo tyV f&ut). 2 So otyl'o na pocdtfu Sofya. 
3 Sffiffecft) tcecs) ffrge ne octtimS) fau, a teg ne^o trie rtenj octneno, cog ocfemio geft. i SB mm jireot tyl', a giaot tyl' 
froett'o libj. 5 91 to froetl'o m temnofled? frojti, ale tntt) ge mob\afyl\ 6 SSgf cForcef ^ofl'an^ ob SBofya, gemuj gmeno 
fcsjl'o San. 7 Sen ptiffel' na faebectoj, abi? fniebcii'o torn ftcetle, aoij wfficfni ijweftli ffrje nel)o- 8 9leoijl' on to fwett'o, 
ale Ooft'dn 6t)t',) at*) fteebectrcj ratybdtoaf o torn froetle. 9 (Sentot) Bs)t' to $xaxoi ftcctl'o, ftere'j ofnxcuge fajce^o H'owcfa 
fcricfydjegje^o na ficet. 10 01a frcete fcgl', a jroet ffrje netyo ocinen geft, ale froet $0 nepojnal'. u 2>o froel)o njl'aflnitjo 
jmffel', ale wl'ajbii getyo ne^rigali t)o. 12 Jtterjj paf folt prtgali geg, bal' gtm moc fsml) Sojjmi 6i)ti, (totij) tent, Sterjj 
njerj we gmeno getyo ; 13 Jlterjj ne je Erroe, ani j wule tel'a, ani j wule muje, ale g 23of)a ^I'ogeni fau. u % ©I'oioo to 
tH'o octneno geft a pteoijroai'o nte^ ndtui, (a nribelt fme fl'awu geljo, fl'awu gato$to gebnorogene'^o ob ©tee,) #ne 
mU'ofij a prawbg. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Bohemia, a country exceeding 20,000 English square miles in area, and situated nearly in the heart 
of Europe, forms an important section of the Austrian empire. The number of inhabitants amounts to 
4,800,000, of whom 3,000,000 are Tchekhes, and speak the Bohemian language: the remaining part 
of the population is composed principally of Germans. An attempt was made during the last century 
to abolish the Bohemian language, and German teachers were introduced into all the schools of Bohemia; 
but a language which, during the long ages of papal superstition, had been used as almost the only 
organ of truth, was not permitted to be thus suppressed. A reaction took place in its favour, and of 
late years Bohemian literature has been sedulously cultivated, although in all society German is the 
language of intercourse, even among those who profess to uphold the Bohemian language. A dialect 
of this language is spoken in Moravia ; and about two millions of Slovaks in the north-west of Hungary 
employ Bohemian as their literary medium, although they speak a distinct dialect. Bohemia has justly 
been called the cradle of the Reformation: yet it is now one of the strongholds of Roman Catholicism, 
and the descendants of those who shed their blood in defence of their religious liberty are generally 
distinguished by the superstitious zeal with which they adhere to the form of religion forced on them 
by the swords of the Austrians. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Bohemian is chiefly distinguished from other Slavic languages by the peculiarity of its pronun- 
ciation, which however, is not so harsh and disagreeable as that of the Polish. In common with them 
it possesses a number of sibilants, and in many instances it has imparted a hissing sound to the German, 
Greek, and Latin words which have entered in great abundance into its vocabulary. About three- 



Class III.] BOHEMIAN. 301 

fourths of the words composing the Polish and Bohemian language are derived from the same roots, 
but in point of grammatical construction Bohemian approximates most closely to the Russian, and is 
a pretty and comparatively easy dialect of the Sclavonic. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES -IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The greater part of a Bohemian version of the Scriptures appears to have been extant at the close 
of the fourteenth century: several translations of the Psalms, and a version of the books of Isaiah, 
Jeremiah, and Daniel, and of the Sunday Lessons from the Gospels, ascribed to that century, are still 
preserved in MS. in the libraries of Vienna, Prague, and Oels in Silesia. Ann, queen of Richard II. 
of England, is well known to have possessed Bibles, Latin, German, and Bohemian. The various 
books of Scripture were read and circulated in Bohemia, in separate portions, until the time of Huss 
and Jerome of Prague, the martyrs of the fifteenth century. About the time that Huss began to preach 
against the evils of the Roman Church, the several portions of Scripture that had been translated into 
Bohemian were for the first time collected together. It is uncertain whether Huss assisted in forming 
this collection, or whether he caused any portion of the sacred volume to be translated anew. After 
his martyrdom in 1415, copies of this Bible were greatly multiplied by his followers. Many copies 
were written by women, and the scriptural knowledge of the Taborite women is noticed by iEneas 
Sylvius, afterwards Pope Pius II. : he remarked that " it was a shame to the Italian priests that many 
of them had never read the whole of the New Testament, whilst scarcely a woman could be found 
among the Bohemians (or Taborites) who could not answer any questions respecting either the Old 
or New Testament." From A.D. 1410 to 1488 (when this Bible was first printed), no less than four 
different recensions of the entire Scriptures can be distinctly traced, and many more of the New 
Testament. About thirty-three copies of the whole Bible, and twenty-two of the New Testament, 
written during this period, are still extant; and of these some are copied from each other, and some 
appear to have been translated anew, but all have evidently been executed from the Vulgate. 

The edition of this Bohemian Bible published by the United Brethren in 1488 furnishes the first 
instance on record of the application of the newly-invented art of printing to the multiplication of the 
Scriptures in a living tongue. From the date of this publication to the year 1804, fourteen editions of 
this version left the press. Between the years 1579 and 1593, a version of the Scriptures, executed by 
the United or Moravian Brethren from the original texts, was published in six quarto volumes at 
Kralitz, in Moravia. Fourteen translators are said to have been engaged on this splendid work, and 
the whole was published at the expense of the Baron John Zerotimus. Schaffarik has remarked con- 
cerning this translation, and the notes that accompanied it, " that they contain a great deal of that 
which, two hundred years later, the learned coryphaei of exegesis exhibited to the world as their own 
profound discoveries." 

In addition to the two versions above mentioned, a translation of the entire Scriptures from the 
Vulgate into Bohemian was published in 1804, by Prochazka and Durich: the New Testament of this 
version had appeared in 1786. A translation of the Old Testament, executed by Wartowsky from the 
Hebrew, still exists in MS., but has never been printed. 

The design of issuing an edition of the Bohemian Bible was entertained by the Berlin Bible Society 
as early as 1805. The current of political events, however, impeded the progress of the edition, which 
was not completed till 1807. It consisted of 3000 copies, all of which were put into circulation in 
little more than twelve months. In 1808, an edition of the Bible, carefully printed from the text of 
1593, was edited by Professor Palkovitch, of Hungary, with a list of words that had become obsolete 
since the translation was made. Owing to the poverty of the country, about 100 copies only got into 
circulation till 1812, when the stock in hand was purchased for distribution by the Bible Society. 
Up to the end of 1859, 35,000 copies of the Bible, and 26,000 Testaments, had been published by the 
British and Foreign Bible Society in this language, exclusive of the many large editions published at 
Berlin by its aid; but the results of this extensive distribution have not yet been fully manifested. 



302 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

Bishop Fabricius alone was stated to have brought into circulation 7,200 Bibles and 40,000 Testaments, 
and they appear to have been anxiously sought for, and well received. l 



SERYIAN. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THE SERVIAN VERSION, see Plate 6, page 291. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Servia Proper is a principality nominally dependent upon the Turkish empire, situated on the 
Danube, south of the Hungarian provinces of Sclavonia and the Banat. In proportion to the region 
through which the Servian language, in its various dialects, is diffused, Servia itself is but a small 
territory: it comprises an area of about 25,000 square miles, and a population of about 1,000,000, 
whereas the total number of individuals by whom (as we shall hereafter have occasion to mention) 
the Servian language is spoken, amounts at least to 5,000,000. It is vernacular, with some diversity 
of idiom and pronunciation, in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Dalmatia, Sclavonia, and part 
of Croatia. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Servian is more akin to the Russian and Wendish than to the Bohemian and Polish languages. 
It approximates, however, more closely to the Old Sclavonic than, to any modern idiom, and thus 
appears to corroborate the generally received opinion, that the elder dialect was the vernacular language 
of the original Sclavonic settlers in Servia, and that Modern Servian is merely a corruption of it. 

The Servian chiefly differs from the Old Sclavonic language in the disuse of certain terminations, 
and in the adoption of many Turkish words. In point of construction, the language has of late years 
been altered and modified, so as to resemble the Russian. It is rich in vowels, and free from the 
accumulations of consonants, which render the other Sclavonic tongues so harsh to the ear of a foreigner. 
Its chief characteristic is the softness of its sound. In comparing the various Sclavonic languages, 
Schaffarik has said, fancifully but truly, " Servian song resembles the tone of the violin; Old Sclavonic, 
that of the organ; Polish, that of the guitar. The Old Sclavonic, in its Psalms, sounds like the loud 
rush of the mountain stream; the Polish like the bubbling and sparkling of a fountain; and the Servian, 
like the quiet murmuring of a streamlet in the valley." It is the most regular, and perhaps also the 
most agreeable, of all the Sclavonic dialects. 

1 A recent endeavour on the part of the British and Foreign Bible Society to disseminate the Scriptures in the 
Provinces of the Austrian Empire has resulted in failure, owing to the decisive and bigoted opposition on the part 
of the ruling powers — prompted here, as elsewhere, by the denunciations of the Romish priesthood. In 1850 and 1851, 
the Society's agent at Vienna commenced the printing of several editions, in the Bohemian as well as the German 
and Hungarian languages. His efforts were crowned with such success, that during the first six months of his resi- 
dence, he dispersed 6965 volumes. After a time, however, the depots at Guns, Pesth, and Vienna, were summarily 
closed by the police; and an order made by the government to have all the copies of the Scriptures on hand sent out 
of the country, was rigorously enforced. Two hundred and four bales, and one hundred and twenty-five cases, con- 
taining, either bound or in sheets, 58,087 copies of Bibles and Testaments, were accordingly, under the charge of a 
detachment of gens d'armes, conveyed beyond the frontiers of the Austrian territory, amidst the unavailing tears and 
sighs of tens of thousands of the people, waiting for and anxious to possess the precious volumes, of which they were 
so mercilessly bereft ! 



Class III] SERVIAN. 803 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The language of Cyril and Methodius being more intelligible to the Servians than to any other 
members of the Sclavonic family, the ancient Sclavonic version was, till a comparatively recent period, 
the only translation of the Scriptures read and circulated among them. A translation of the Octateuch 
into Servian is said to have been printed in 1493, at Zenta, in Herzegovina, but it is probable that the 
language of this version approached nearer to the Old Sclavonic than to the modern idiom. The 
attention of the British and Foreign Bible Society was first drawn to the necessity of furnishing Servia 
with a version intelligible to the mass of the people by a communication from Mr. Kopitar, of Vienna, 
addressed in 1815 to the Committee, through the Baron de Sacy, of Paris. A Servian, by name 
Vuc Stephanovitch, the author of the first Servian grammar and dictionary, having agreed with 
Mr. Kopitar to prepare the translation, the proposal was referred to Dr. Pinkerton, then at St. Peters- 
burg; and as it was ascertained, after due inquiry, that Stephanovitch was fully qualified for the 
work, the Committee resolved to undertake an edition of the New Testament in Servian. The trans- 
lation was executed from the Old Sclavonic version, compared with the original Greek, and, when 
completed, was sent to St. Petersburg, whence it was forwarded for revision to the Bessarabian 
Committee. Many alterations were effected in it during the process of revision, and it was not till 1 824 
that the edition was completed at press. As this translation was written in the common dialect of the 
people, many objections were raised against it by those who preferred a more elevated style, bearing 
a stricter conformity to the Old Sclavonic idioms. 

Soon after the appearance of this version, Professor Stoikovitch, the author of several Russian and 
Servian works, was appointed by a committee at St. Petersburg to prepare a new translation, designed, 
in point of diction, to hold a middle course between the forms of speech in common familiar use, and 
the more ancient and classical phraseology of the language. The Professor took the former version as 
the basis of his work, which, when completed, was printed at St. Petersburg. When a second edition 
of the New Testament became necessary for Servia, the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society took some pains to ascertain which translation was the more acceptable to the people. On 
reference to native authorities, it was found that Professor Stoikovitch's version was generally preferred 
to the other. It was therefore adopted as the text of an edition of 2000 copies, published for the 
British and Foreign Bible Society at Leipsic, in 1830. Subsequent editions have been issued by the 
Society, amounting in the total, up to the end of 1858, to 9000 copies. The Old Testament has not 
yet been translated into Servian. 



304 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 



CROATIAN, OE DALMATIAN-SERVIAN. 

SPECIMEN, EKOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 13. 
[U. Budimu, 1831.] 

U poesetku bishe ries, i ries bishe kod Boga, i Bog bishe ries. 2 Ovabislie upoesetku 
kod Boga. 3 Svase po njoj ucsinishe, i brez nje ucsinihshe nishta, shtose ucsinih, 4 U njoj 
bishe xivot, a xivot bishe svitlost ljuclih: 5 A svitlost u tminam' sviti, a tmineju ne obajashe. 
6 Bih csovik poslan od Boga, komu ime bishe Ivan. 7 Ovi dojde za svidvesbu, dabi svi 
virovali ponjemu. 8 Ne bishe on svitlost, nego dabi svidocsbu ucsinio od svitlosti. 9 Bishe 
svitlost istinita, koja prosvitljuje svakog' csovika dolazecheg' na ovi svit. 10 Na svitu bishe, 
i svitse po njemu ucsinih, a svitga nepoynade. 11 U vlastita dojde, i svoiga ne primishe. 
12 A kolikogodga primishe, dadeim oblast da budu sinovi Boxji, onim', koi viruju u ime 
njegovo. 13 Koi ne od kervih, niti od volje muxa, negosu od Boga rodjeni. 

The Servian language, as we have already mentioned, is spoken, with a few provincial deviations, in 
Dalmatia, and in Military or Austrian Croatia, comprising the districts of Carlstadt and Varasdin, which 
collectively may contain a population of about 1,300,000. The Sclavonic dialects spoken in that part 
of Europe blend into one another, in many neighbourhoods, and are often not easily distinguishable in 
their relative purity. The only real line of demarcation between the language of Servia Proper and 
Dalmatian- Servian, lies in their respective alphabetical systems. The Servians belong, almost without 
exception, to the Greek Church, and therefore use the Russian modification of the venerable characters 
in which the Old Sclavonic version is written. The Dalmatians and Croatians, on the other hand, 
having received instruction in the Christian religion originally from Latin priests, belong, in general, 
to the Roman Catholic Church, and use the Latin alphabet. The Glagolitic letters (probably so called 
from the Sclavonic Glagol, a word or verb,) were formerly employed in Dalmatia in writing Old 
Sclavonic, as well as the modern idiom: they are a clumsy imitation of the Cyrillic alphabet, and, 
except occasionally for ecclesiastical purposes, have now fallen into disuse. 

A translation of the Gospels into Dalmatian- Servian, by Bandulovitch, appeared at Venice in 1613, 
but never obtained much circulation. In 1640, a Jesuit, by name Bartholomew Cassio, had translated 
the entire Scriptures; but this version was never committed to the press, owing to the opoosition of 
the bishops. After the lapse of another century, strenuous efforts were made by Stephen Rosa, a 
Roman Catholic priest, to furnish the Dalmatians with the Bible in their vernacular language. He 
executed a new translation of the entire Scriptures, and immediately on its completion forwarded it to 
the pope, with a request that it might be used in all the churches of Dalmatia, instead of the Old 
Sclavonic version : he urged his suit by arguing, that as the Cyrillic language was an ingredient of the 
Greek Church, the use of it in sacred things was a species of Greek heresy. The pope referred the 
subject to the consideration of a committee, appointed by him for the purpose, and in 1754 the 
translation was formally rejected. 

At length, in 1832, by the renewed efforts of the Romish Church, and the zealous aid of the 
deceased primate of Hungary, Cardinal Rudnay, another version of the Scriptures was completed, and 
was permitted to pass through the press. It was printed in Roman letters, and was at once adopted by 
the Roman Catholics of Dalmatia and Croatia. This version is a translation from the Vulgate, executed 
by the Franciscan monk and professor, Katancsich, and rendered conformable in all points to the 
dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. 



Class III.] 



CARNIOLAN. 



305 



CARNIOLAN. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 



V'Tim sazhetki je bila Besseda, inu Besseda je bila 
per Bugu, inu Bug je bil ta Besseda. Taista je bila 
v'sazhetki per Bugu. Vsse rezhi so skusi toisto 
sturjene : inu pres teiste ni nizh sturgenu, kar je 
sturgenu. V'nji je blu to shivlenie, inu to shivlenie 
je blu ena luzh teh ludy. Inu luzh v'temmi sveiti, 
inu temme je nisso sapopadle. En zhlovik je bil od 
Buga poslan, katermu je blu jme Joannes. Taisti je 
persbal k'prizhuvaniu, de bi prizhuval od te luzhi, de 
bi vssi skusi niega veruvali. On ny bil ta luzh, temuzh, 
de bi on od luzhi prizhuval. Je bila ta prava luzh, 
katera usakiga zhloveka resveti, kir pride na leta sveit. 
Je bil na sveiti, inu ta sveit je skusi niega sturjen, 
inu ta sveit ga ny sposnal. On je pershal v'svoje 
lastnine, inu ti niegovi ga nisso gori vseli, kulikur 
yh pak je niega gori vselu, tern je on dal oblast, de 
bi Boshji otrozi postali, tem, kateri v'niegovu ime 
verujejo. Kateri nisso od te kervy, ne od vole tega 
messa, ne od vole mosha, temuzh so od Buga rojeni. 
INV TA BESSEDA JE MESSV POSTAL A. (Tukei 
se doli poklekne.) Inu je prebivala med nami : Inu 
my smo nie zhast vidili, eno zhast koker tiga 
edinurojeniga od Ozheta, polniga gnade, inuresnize. 



Vsazhetki je bila besseda, inu Besseda je bila per 
Bugi, inu ta Besseda je bila Bug. Taista je bila 
vsazhetki per Bugi. Vse rizhy so skusi toisto stur- 
jene, inu pres teiste nej nishter sturjenu, kar je 
sturjenu. V'njej je bil ta leben, inu ta leben je bil 
Luzh teh Ludy, inu taista Luzh vtemmi svejti, inu 
temme je neso priele. En Zhlovik je bil od Buga 
poslan, timu je bilu ime Ioannes, taisti je prishal 
k'prizhovanju, de bi od te Luzhi prizhoval, de bi vsi 
skusi njega verovali. On nej bil taista Luzh, temuzh 
de bi on od te Luzhi prizhoval. Taista je bila ta 
prava Luzh, katera vse Zhloveke resvejti, kir prideo 
na leta Svejt. Ona je bila na Svejti, inu ta Svejt je 
skusi njo sturjen, inu Svejt je nej snal. On je 
prishal vsvojo lastino, inu ty njegovi ga neso gori 
vseli : Ampek kulikur je nyh njega gori vselu, tem 
je on dal oblast, de mogo biti Boshji otroci, kateri 
na njegovu Ime verujo, kateri neso od krij, ni od 
vole tiga messa, ni od vole eniga Mosha., temuzh od 
Buga rojeni. Inu taista Besseda je Messu postala, 
inu je prebivala mej nami, inu my smo nje zhast 
vidili, eno zhast, kakdr tiga edinurojeniga Synu od 
Ozheta, polniga Gnade inu Risnice. 



This dialect is spoken in the Austrian provinces of Carinthia, Carniola, and Styria. In 1857 the 
population of Carinthia amounted to 332,593; that of Carniola to 457,328; and that of Styria to 
1,070,747. Part of this population, however, is composed of Germans; and Eoman Catholicism is the 
predominant religion. 

The Carniolan dialect, which bears a strong resemblance to Servian and to Old Sclavonic, has 
been vernacular in these regions since the fifth century; but it was not embodied in a written form 
till towards the epoch of the Reformation. Truber, a canon and curate of several places in Carniola 
and Carinthia, and justly styled the apostle of that nation, was the first to write in their dialect. In 
the prosecution of his zealous and faithful labours among them, he met with much discouragement and 
strong opposition, so that at length he was compelled to take refuge with Christopher, duke of 
Wurtemburg, who had opened an asylum in his dominions for the persecuted. Here Truber completed 
the translation of the New Testament into Carniolan, which he had commenced some time previously. 
He translated from the Latin, German and Italian versions, for he was unacquainted with the original 
Greek. The first portion of his version, consisting of the Gospel of St. Matthew, appeared at Tubingen 
in 1555, printed in Roman letters; and the entire New Testament was completed at press in 1557. 

In the preparation of this version, Truber was assisted by Dalmatin, Sonnegg, and other preachers 
of the Gospel. A system of orthography, totally different to that adopted by Truber, was introduced 
by Dalmatin in 1561. The Old Testament was also translated by Dalmatin, and an edition of the 
entire Scriptures in Carniolan was printed under his direction, with the aid of Melanchthon, in 1584, in 
parallel columns with the German text. This edition was designed for the Protestants of Carinthia and 
Carniola, who were then very numerous; but they have been exterminated by the Jesuits, and almost 
all the copies of this edition appear to have been destroyed. A perfect copy of this version is scarcely 
known to be in existence, but fragments are still extant. A Carniolan version of the Scriptures, for 
the use of the Roman Catholics, was executed from the Vulgate, by George Japel, and printed at 

21 



306 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

Laybacli in 1784. The New Testament of this version has been since reprinted. Another Eomanist 
version is said to have been prepared by Ravnikar, Eoman Catholic professor of theology at Laybacli, 
about the year 1817. 



SLO YAK I AN. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 12— [W. Osteihome, 1832.] 

0151 $oidttu Mo ©torco, a ©towo Mo it 93ot>t, a SBof) M ©towo. 2 Soto Mo na CPoidtfu it 9Ba6a. 3 Stfecfo 
ffrje net)o fa jtato : a Beg net)o ntce^o fa nejiato, co fa ftato. 4 3t nem 3i*M M, a Swot M ©roetto Sitbi : 5 11 ©teetlo 
tt> Sent noftdcfc, stcttt, a Smi l)o neofjrnuli. 6 SBot Slowe? poftam ob 95ol)a, .fttere'ntu 2Tce'tto Bolo ©an. 7 Sen SPtifM 
na ©roebectwo, a6i ©rcebectroo wibat o ©tcette, afti wfeui meritt ffrje neM 8 SfteM on ©roetlo, ale afti ©roebectwo 
tvibal o ©inetle. 9 Soto ©tcetlo oprawb'iwe, Jltere ofraecuge fajbe'tjo ctowefa ipttcr/abaagictfjo na tento ©tcet. 10 £Ra 
©rcete M, a ©roet ft'rge nefjo ucinen gefi, a ©nxtfjo nepojnal. n 2)0 fwe'ljo tcIaftne't)o £rifoI, a frcogi Ijo neprigali. 
12 ^tertfolroef ale f)o Jmgalt, bat gim ntoc ©ini SBojimt Bit, tint Sttyxi tcerd tt>e STJeno get)o. 

The Slovaks, or Slovenes, dwell in the north-west of Hungary, more especially in the counties 
Trencsin, Thurocz, Arva, Liptau and Sohl. Including their numerous settlements, dispersed all over 
Hungary, their number may be estimated in round numbers at about 1,800,000. Of these, 1,300,000 
are Eoman Catholics ; the rest are Protestants. They are descendants of the original Sclavonic settlers 
in Europe, but their language is the only remnant they have preserved of their national existence. In 
894 they were conquered by the Magyars; since then they have dwelt in the same land, and under the 
same government, as their conquerors, and they still form a component and very important part of the 
Hungarian nation. Their dialect approximates closely to the Servian, but has been greatly influenced 
by the Bohemian, which they have adopted as their literary language. It is to the Romanists that the 
Slovaks are indebted for a version of the Scriptures in their own dialect. A translation of the Bible 
was made by the Canon G. Palkowic, which was printed in 1831. The Bohemian version had been 
up to that period the only translation of the Scriptures in general use among these people. 



BOSNIAN. 

BOSNIA, the most westerly pashalic, or eyalet, of Turkey in Europe, comprises an area which has 
been variously estimated at from 16,000 to 22,000 square miles, and a population numbering upwards 
of 1,000,000. This population is composed of Turks, Servians, Croats, Gipsies, Jews, and Armenians; 
the Bosniaks themselves number but 350,000 individuals. The dialect has been described as a mixture 
of Sclavonic and "Wallachian. In a letter, dated Corfu, 1827, Mr. Lowndes stated that the Austrian 
consul then at Corfu had given him information of the existence of the Bible in the Bosnian dialect. 
From the account given by the consul, it would appear that he had seen copies of this version during 
his residence among the Bosniaks. No copy of this work, however, seems at any period to have 
reached England. 



t 



Class III.] BULGARIAN. 307, 



BULGARIAN. 

FOR SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION, see Plate 6, page 291. 

Bulgaria, anciently called Lower Moesia, formed one of the earliest settlements of the Sclavonians, 
and derived its present name from the Bulgarians, a warlike Asiatic horde who, in 679, conquered the 
country, but gradually merged their language and manners in those of the Sclavonian inhabitants. 
Bulgaria was annexed to the Greek empire by Basilius the Second, in 1018. It recovered its 
independence in 1186, but was finally conquered by the Turks in 1389, under whose dominion it has 
ever since continued. Its present population is estimated at not less than 3,000,000, and the 
Bulgarians are also to be found dispersed through most of the neighbouring provinces. 

The Bulgarian dialect is the most corrupt, but, at the same time, the easiest to acquire of all the 
languages of the Sclavonic stem. Of the seven cases which properly belong to these languages, it has 
retained but two, the nominative and the vocative ; and it has moreover adopted the Albanian and 
Scandinavian custom of placing articles, or rather pronouns, after nouns. Yet, although in consequence 
of these changes the Old Sclavonic version became less intelligible to the Bulgarians than to any other 
Sclavonic nation, it was not till after the commencement of the operations of Bible Societies that any 
successful effort was made to produce a Bulgarian version of the Scriptures. A translation was 
commenced in 1820, at the suggestion of Dr. Pinkerton. An archimandrite, named Theodoseos, who 
had been recommended by the Greek patriarch of Constantinople as the person best qualified for 
such an undertaking, was appointed to prepare this version, and he completed the translation of the 
New Testament in 1822. The work was forwarded to St. Petersburg for publication, and the Gospel 
of St. Matthew left the press in that city during the following year; it was printed in a thin 8vo. 
volume, in parallel columns with the Sclavonic text. But in the meantime it was discovered that, 
owing probably to the incompetency of the archimandrite, the translation had been very inaccurately 
executed. The Petersburg Committee therefore resolved to limit the edition to 2000 copies; but the 
suspension of the Russian Bible Society occurred shortly afterwards, and even this small edition seems 
never to have been printed. 

In 1827, another translation of the New Testament was completed by Sapounoff, with the design 
of publishing an edition on his own account at the press of the metropolitan of Bucharest. He was 
able to effect part of his design, in printing the Four Gospels ; but by the time they left the press his 
means were completely exhausted, and, from his inability to print the remainder of his version, the 
Gospels were circulated separately. They were received with much favour by the people, and the 
translation (which had been executed from the Greek, compared with the Sclavonic and Wallachian 
versions), was very generally attested to be faithful and intelligible. Arrangements were therefore made 
by the British and Foreign Bible Society, through their agent, Mr. Barker, to print an edition of the 
entire version; but, owing to some difficulty that occurred in the purchase of the work, the project was 
abandoned, and an entirely new translation was set on foot in 1836, by Mr. Barker. The New 
Testament was translated and forwarded to Smyrna in 1838, and was completed at press in that city 
in 1840. The edition consisted of 5000 copies. Other editions have since been issued from the 
London press, and the total number of copies printed for the Society, up to the close of 1859, amounted 
to 30,100 Testaments, together with 18,978 copies of the Psalms. , 

Considerable success has already attended the efforts made for the dissemination of Scripture truth 
among the simple and industrious population of Bulgaria. The recent Reports of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society furnish illustrations of this gratifying fact. In one instance, mention is made 
of 400 copies of the Psalms having been sent to the fair of Usingiova, and being eagerly purchased .aa 



308 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



[Class III. 



soon as they were exposed for sale. When first Mr. Barker (the Society's agent) visited the Bulgarian 
peasantry, some years ago, he found them totally ignorant of the truths of Christianity. The history of 
Our Saviour was quite new to them, and they took delight in hearing it. They lamented that they 
could not pray as he did, for they knew not how. They were unacquainted with the Lord's Prayer ! 

The earnest demand for the Inspired Word evinced by the Bulgarian population encouraged the 
Society to take steps for obtaining a translation of the entire Old Testament into the Bulgarian lan- 
guage, and this work was completed in 1858. As the work advanced, some of the separate books were 
issued from the American Mission press at Smyrna; and it is proposed to undertake a complete edition 
of the whole, so soon as the work shall have a preliminary revision, which is now (1860) in progress. 



WENDISH, UPPER AND LOWER 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

UPPEB 1TJSATIAN. LOWER LT/SATIAN. 



1 5Be fpoqatfu bje to ftmco, a to fjfowo Bfe fcola 
SBolja, a SBofy tje to ftowo. 

2 Sofame bjefd;e to fpocjatfu £ola 5Bof)a. 

3 <Sd)itte wjeji) fi u pfdjeg tofjame cjinene, a be3 te^ofa* 
mefyo ne[e nitfd)o fcjinene, fdjtoj cjinene je. 

4 2Be nim bje jiroenje, a to jtioenjc u|e cjlowefow 
fhcjerfo. 

5 51 to fjrcjerfo fjwjeqefdje we cjjemnofji, a cjjemnofj 
neje jo fa^fctjtjaia. 

6 ©jlowef bje wot SBot)a ^ofjfanty, fmenom San. 

7 Son pfcfjinbje na f njjetfenjc^o by ^njjetftl wot te^o 
fhojetla, fo bsjdm fdjtji) i>fctjc§ njefyo wjcrUi. 

8 Sonfami) nebje to fwjetfo, ale fo 6ty won fircjetfti 
wot te^o frcjerfa. 

9 So bje to ptaroe fhujetfo, Fotrej fcfyttftd) tubgi 
rojjwjecji, fij bo fjwjeta £fdnnbu. 

10 IBon 6je na {jwjecji, a fjwjet je pfd;e§ njeljo fcjinenty, 
a fwjet jetjo nefcofna. 

11 5Bon fcfdjinbje bo tei)o fjwojef)o, a cji fwoji jel)o 
t)ot)vi nefadm. 

12 jtajj wele pat jeljo Ijoljitje fadju, t&m ba won moj, 
fo 6s)d)u SJoje bjjjecjt bi)U, rotfl bo je^o mena wjetja. 

13 M^ nejfju ftrwje, ant froote tetjo cjjela, ani fiuole 
jenefyo muja, ate icot SBofya f u narobjeni. 

14 01 to fforco fcjitti £0 cjjelo, a bi)blefcf)e be8 
nami, (a mi) wibjidmiS) jefyo frafjnof, jafo ftafnojj tel)o 
jenicjre|o narobjene^o fiqna wot SBot^a,) point nab$ 
a brawbS). 



1 9Bo fad)o})enu befdjo to fj'fowo, a to fjlowo 6efd)o 
pobla SBotjga, a 33of)g befdjo to f iorco. 

2 So fame befdw wo fad;o:periu pobla 98o^)ga. 

3 @d)S)tne wqi fju pfd)e§ to fame fyujirione, a fyeS 
togo fjamego hejo nig Imjinone, 303 jinone jo. 

4 2Bb horn befcfyo jitwene, a to jiraerie befdjo to fjwetlo 
ticty jtowefow. 

5 5t to fwetto £wefd)i wo tei fd?amnofcji, a ta fcfyam* 
nofcj nejo jo Ijjopfcfyimela. 

6 31 owef befdw wot 33ol)ga :poftani fmenom Soljanneg. 

7 Sen £fd)ijo F fnantftwu, abii won wot logo fjweila 
fnanil, abii fct>^fne ^fctjeg nogo werilt. 

8 Sen flanti nebefdjo to fwetto, ale abii won fnanil 
wot togo fj wetla. 

9 So f wetlo befcfto to werne, rotate^ ^)uf reetlio f ajbego 
jlowefa ^fd)ibujego bo togo fjweta. 

10 2Bono fcefdio wo torn fwefdje, a ten fwet jo ^)fd)e3 
no fmjinoni, ale ten fwet jo ftetmfna. 

11 SBon ^fdjijo bo togo fjwojogo, a te fwoje jogo gorei 
newb'fecfcu. 

12 ^afg trele pat jogo goret w'bfed?u, tim ba mon woj, 
SBo^e jefdn' ^orbowafd) totarej bo jogo mena wire. 

13 .fotarej neifu f'ffrfnre bani^' f'wo^te" togo fdjela, 
banig f'wol;le jabnogo mutjsa, ale f'23ot)ga narojone. _ 

14 511e to f lowo ^orboroa fdjelo, a biibtafdjo wo nag 
(a mii wt$ed)tnii, jogo tfd)afnofcj, ffd]afnofcj afo togo 
jabno ^erojonego f^nna wot SBofdjcja) 4)olne gnabi a 
wernofcjt. 



The Latin term, Venedi, with its corresponding German form, Wenden, originally applied indiscrimi- 
nately to all the members of the Sclavonic family, has become the specific appellation of a Sclavonic 
tribe located in Upper and Lower Lusatia. These people, who have preserved their separate 
nationality in the midst of a Teutonic population, number about 144,000 individuals, of whom 
60,000 live under the Saxon, and the remainder under the Prussian dominion; about 10,000 belong 
to the Roman Catholic, and the rest to the Lutheran Church. Two dialects are predominant among 
them, of which that of Upper Lusatia bears the strongest resemblance to Bohemian, and that of 



Class III.] WENDISH. 309 

Lower Lusatia to Polish. In both dialects, the use of the article and various peculiarities of con- 
struction have been borrowed from the German ; yet the characteristics of the original Sclavonic are 
still so fully retained, that when Dr. Pinkerton was travelling through the country he was enabled, 
merely by his knowledge of Russian, to comprehend much that was said by the peasantry. The 
German language is very generally spoken by the wealthier classes, and, in all probability, will 
eventually supersede the Wendish. 

Attempts seem to have been made at an early period to translate portions of the Scriptures into 
Wendish, for, in 1574, a translation of the seven penitential Psalms was published by a pastor of one 
of the churches. The Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark were translated into the same language, 
and printed in 1670, at Budissen, or Bautzen, in Upper Lusatia; and the Epistles to the Romans and 
Galatians were translated and printed in 1694, by Michael Frencelius, or Frenzeln, a native of Cosela, 
in Lusatia, and Lutheran minister of Postwic. Another translation of the Gospels and Epistles was 
executed by Paul Praetor, Matthaei, and three other translators, and published at Bautzen in 1695, by 
the express order of the States of Upper Lusatia. In 1703 the Psalms, and in 1706 the entire New 
Testament, translated by Michael Frenzeln, were printed, the former at Budissen, the latter at Zittau, 
at the expense of Lady Gersdorf, grandmother of Count Zinzendorf, for gratuitous distribution among 
the poor. A version of the entire Scriptures, in Upper Wendish, appeared in 1728, at Budissen, 
translated by four pastors of the Lutheran Church. Eleven years were devoted by these pastors to this 
translation, which is said strictly to follow the German version of Luther. An amended edition 
appeared at Budissen in 1742, and a third edition at the same place in 1797. Another version in 
Upper Wendish was prepared by Swotlic, for the use of Roman Catholics. It still exists in MS., and 
has never been printed. 

Only one version of the Scriptures exists in the Lower Wendish dialect. The New Testament, 
translated by Gottlieb Fabricio, or Fabricius, was printed at Kahren, where Fabricius was minister, in 
1709. It was a translation from the German, and appeared with the German text. It was reprinted 
in 1728 and 1775. The first edition of the Old Testament was published separately in 1796, by 
Fritze. 

In 1814, in consequence of a letter from Dr. Pinkerton, the British and Foreign Bible Committee 
agreed to assist the Dresden Society in printing an edition of 3000 copies of the version of 1728, for 
Upper Lusatia. The edition was completed in 1817, under the care of a printing committee of 
clergymen. In 1816, at the request of Dr. Pinkerton, a similar edition of 3000 copies was undertaken 
for Lower Lusatia ; but, owing to the want of paper and other causes, the printing was not commenced 
till 1818. An edition, printed by the Society for the Upper Lusatians, left the press at Guns in 1849, 
and consisted of 5000 copies of the New Testament, with the Psalms. A subsequent edition of 5000 
copies (New Testament and Psalms) was printed at Berlin in 1857. A further edition of 5000 copies 
is now (1860) passing through the Berlin press, the translation having previously undergone careful 
revision at the hands of the Rev. Mr. Teschner. A great impediment, however, to the free and full 
distribution of the Scriptures among these people arises from their dislike to the Bible without the 
Apocrypha, and their indifference to the New Testament when printed alone. 



310 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 

HUNGARIAN WENDISH. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Vu zacsetki je bila Recs, i ta Recs je bila pri Bogi, i Bog je bila ta Recs. 2 Eta je 
bila vu zacsetki pri Bogi. 3 Vsza szo po nye vcsinyena i brezi nye je nikaj nej vcsinyeno, 
stero je vcsinyeno. 4 Vu nye je bio 'zitek, i te 'zitek je bio szvetloszt liidi. 5 1 ta szvet- 
loszt vu kmiczi szveti, i kmicza jo je nej zapopadnola. 6 Bio je eden cslovek od Boga 
poszlani, steroga ime je Ivan. 7 Ete je prisao na szvedosztvo, ka bi szvedocso od te szvet- 
loszti, da bi vszi vervali po nyem. s On je nej bio ta szvetloszt, nego da bi szvedocso od 
te szvetloszti. 9 Eta je ta isztinszka szvetloszt, stera preszveti vszakoga csloveka pridoc- 
sega na ete szvet. 10 Na torn szveti je bila, i te szvet je po nye" vcsinyeni, i te szvet je 
iiyo nej poznao. u Vu lasztivna szvoja je prisao, i ti lasztivni szo ga nej gori prijali. 12 Ki 
szo ga pa gori prijali, dao je onim oblaszt, naj szinovje Bo'zi bodo, tim vervajocsim vu 
imeni nyegovom. 13 Ki szo nej z krvi, niti z vole tela, niti z vole mo'za, nego z Boga 
porodjeni. 14 I ta Recs je telo vcsinyena, i prebivala je med nami, (i vidili, szmo nye diko, 
liki diko jedinorodjene od Ocse) puna miloscse ino isztine. 

A peculiar dialect of the Wendish (resembling in some degree the dialect of the Slovaks, and there- 
fore serving as the connecting link between the languages of the eastern and western Sclavonic stems) 
is spoken by about 15,000 Protestant Sclavonians in the Szala and other districts of Hungary. The 
New Testament has been translated for this race by Stephen Kuznico, or Kugmits, an edition of which 
has been printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society, together with a version of the Psalms, 
by the Bev. Mr. Trplan. 



LETTISH, OH LIYONIAN. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

(Sefafjfuma 6tja tag 2M;jrbg, un tag ffialjrbg Bija pee Seewa, im £>eewg Bija tag ffiafjtbg. 2 £ag patg eefatjfuma 
6tja pee £>eetoa. 3 28iffag leetag irr batritag jaur to paftfju : un Beg ta pafdja ne fag ne irr barring, fag itr barring. 
4 @effc6, roissa ta bfifjwtBa Btja, un ta bfifytoiBa Bija to jitrcefu gatfct)untg. 5 £as patg gaifcf/umg -ftrifjbeja tumfiBa, un 
ta tumfi6a to ne faKeljme. 6 SBeeng jilroefg tappe fiu)titjtg no 2)eewa, Safmtg wafjrba. 7 Sag patg natjje pefyj lecjiBag, 
fa tag leejtbu bof)tu no ta gatfcf/uma, fa nriffi ti^etu $aux to. 8 SBiflfcB, patg ne Biia tag gaifdnung, Bet fa tag leejiBu 
bo^tu no ta gatfdnuna. 9 Sag Bija tag i^eng gai-fdjuntg, fag pafaule nafyfbamg irtffug gttroefug apffaibro. 10 SSmfcB, 
Bija pafaute, un ta pafaule irr barrita jaut townu : Bet ta pafaule to ne pafmne. u SBififcB, nafyje -faica ^arctt&a, un tee • 
faiceji votimu ne ugjwfyme. 12 Set gee? nutrau ug«et;me, teem win-fcft, berce waftag Seewa Befjnteeiu tapt, teem, fag tijj ug 
wi-ssa waljtbu. 13 .Sag ne no affintm, nei no mec-ju griBBefcf/anag net pe^ fafjba nrifyra pra^ta, Bet fag no ©eerea 
bflmmufct/i. 14 Un tag 3Baf)rbg tappe meefa, un bfu>oja mvfyju jtarpa, pllng fc^taftlBag un pateefl6ag, un metjg 
wimw gotybi&u rebfejam, tafjbu gotjbtBu, fa ta toeeniga ;peebftmmufc£;a 2>el;la no Setjwa. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The maritime portion of Livonia, bordering on the Baltic, and also part of Courland, are occupied by 
a small nation to whom this dialect is vernacular. At the beginning of the present century, these people 



Class III.] HUNGARIAN WENDISH. 311 

were considered by the Moravian missionaries to be further advanced in civilisation than the Esthonians ; 
and no less than 5000 persons in Livonia were said at that period to be believers, or at least inquirers, 
in the way of salvation. The number of Letts, or Livonians, is estimated at 740,000. They belong, 
in general, to the Lutheran Church. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIALECT. 

The Lettish and Lithuanian are both cognate dialects of the Old Prussian language, now extinct; 
but Lettish has admitted many Finnish and German elements, and has lost the simplicity of its ancient 
grammatical structure. Its orthography is regulated according to the German model; and a system 
so ill calculated to express the peculiarities of its articulations causes this dialect to appear intricate and 
abstruse to foreigners. 

III. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. 

A version of the Gospels in Lettish is ascribed to Elger, a Livonian, who entered the order of the 
Jesuits in 1607, and published a work entitled " Christian Institutes" in his native dialect; but it does 
not appear that this version was ever committed to the press. The Livonians are indebted for their 
version of the Bible to Ernest Gliick, dean of the Lutheran Church in Livonia. He was a native of 
Saxony, and on his settlement in Livonia he was grieved to find that the people were still destitute 
of the Scriptures in their vernacular tongue. He therefore applied himself assiduously to the task of 
producing a translation of the entire Scriptures from the sacred originals; and with this object in view 
he repaired to Hamburg, there to qualify himself for the undertaking, by studying Hebrew under 
Edzardi, the celebrated Hebraist. On his return to Livonia in the year 1680, Gliick commenced his 
version, to which he devoted the chief part of his time during a period of eight years. The New 
Testament was published in 1685, and the entire Bible in 1689, at Kiga. The work was edited, and 
probably revised, by John Fischer, a German professor of divinity, and general superintendent of 
Livonia; it was dedicated to Charles XL, who had commanded its publication, and by whom every 
expense attending it was paid. It is stated, in a preface by the translator or editor, that all efforts to 
establish schools among the Livonians had proved impracticable, owing to the opposition of the people, 
until endeavours were made to give them the Scriptures in their native tongue; then, the writer tells 
us, the grace of God was so manifested among them, that they not only became willing to be taught, 
but made astonishing progress in the knowledge of the truth. 

Only 1500 copies of this edition were printed; the paper was obtained from France, and a singular 
incident occurred during the voyage. The Vessel in which this paper was deposited was taken by 
a pirate ; but on being informed that the paper was intended for an impression of the Bible, the pi rate 
instantly released the vessel with its cargo, and suffered it to proceed on its voyage. This edition was 
so soon exhausted, that early in the following century it was found necessary to undertake another. 
The care of this edition devolved on James Benjamin Fischer, son and successor of John Fischer, the 
editor of the first edition. The text was diligently revised by five divines, and, on the completion of 
their labours, an edition of 9000 copies of the entire Bible was printed at Konigsberg, in 1739. The 
New Testament had previously appeared separately at Riga, in 1730. 

In 1814, another impression of the New Testament, according to the received edition of Fischer, 
without alterations or additions, was commenced at Mittau, in Courland, where the Courland section 
of the St. Petersburg Bible Society was established. This edition, which consisted of 15,000 copies, 
left the press in 1815. In 1824, it appeared from the Report of the Russian Bible Society, that there 
had been printed by the Society 30,000 New Testaments, and nearly 4000 Bibles, in this dialect. 
Numerous copies of the Lettish Testament have also, within a recent period, been distributed in the 
province by the agency of the American Bible Society. An edition of 20,500 New Testaments in 
Lettish has subsequently (1854) been printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 



312 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 



LITHUANIAN. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

#rabjoje Bureo '3obtg, (Stereo ©unug) tr '3obi§ Bureo *>tie ©iereo, it ©iercag Bureo '3ob;§. 2 Sag ^atg 
^rabjoi' Bureo prie 2)iewo. 3 SBifft baiftat to fcatieg bari)ti ^ra, ir Be to niefo niera baryta, fag baryta ijra. 4 Seme 
Bureo gijreajrig, ir gtyreaflig Bureo f reiefyBe £monii. 5 3r toft f reiefyBe tamfpBeje f retecjia, fat tamfyBe tat ne fcermane. 
6 SBureo £mogug Stereo fuftag, Son's rearbu, 7 Sag ^ats atejo lubbimui, a^pie to, f reiefyB e L fubbtt , fab jie retfft per ji 
ttffetu. 8 3ig ne Bureo f reiefyBe, Bet fab lubbitu aipie to. fireiefv^. 9 @jiji Bureo tifra freiefoBe, apf reiecjanti reiffug 
§ntoneS, ateinancjug4 ft freteta . 10 ©jt Bureo froiete, ir freiet'g tier ta^bar^tag tjra ; ir freiet'g jog ne pa$mo. n 3ig i 
fareaje c atejo, ir fareieji jo ne Drleme. 12 SBet fief ji-fctteme, tiemg baree mact,2)iereo reaifaig paftoti, f urrie tif -t jo rearba c . 
13 Jturrie ne if fraujo, neS) if funo noro, nei) if wireo noro, Bet if 2)iereo gimme,.. u 3r tag gotoig paftojo funu ir gtyree'no 
taxp mufu, ir me'g matem jo garBe^garBeJaip reiengintmufio ©unaug if 3Jreo, pitnq, maloneg ir tiefog.] 

Lithuania, formerly part of the ancient kingdom of Poland, is now chiefly subject to Russia. Its 
population, according to the census of 1851, amounts to upwards of 4,000,000. The Lithuanian 
dialect is now spoken only by the peasantry, Polish being the language of the middle and upper 
classes. Thus excluded from the influences of refinement and civilization, Lithuanian, which is closely 
allied to the Old Prussian, has preserved its peculiar structure more faithfully than most of the other 
languages of its class. It has retained seven cases, three numbers, and three genders; and of all the 
idioms spoken in Europe, it is acknowledged to approximate the nearest to the Sanscrit. 

The first translation of the Bible into this dialect was made at the close of the sixteenth century, 
by John Bretkius, of Bammeln, near Friedland, and pastor of Labiau. He afterwards became pastor 
of the Lithuanian Church at Konigsberg. He commenced the version in 1579, and completed it in 
1590. He did not live to see the work committed to the press, but deposited the MS. in the Royal 
Library of Konigsberg: the New Testament, with the Psalms, occupying three volumes in 4to., and the 
rest of the Old Testament five volumes in folio. The Psalms were corrected and revised by Rhesa, the 
successor of Bretkius, in concert with other divines; and an edition was published, with Luther's 
German version, in 1625. The New Testament was printed at Strasburg in 1700, by order of 
Frederic I., king of Prussia. Another translation of the Bible in this dialect, supposed to have been 
taken from a Polish version, was executed by Chylinski, a native of Lithuania, and a Lutheran. It 
was printed in 1660 in London, where the translator died in 1668. All the copies of this edition 
appear to have been destroyed, with the exception of a fragment without title, proceeding no further 
than the Psalms. 

Another edition of Bretkius's version of the New Testament, with the addition of the Psalms, 
was printed at Konigsberg in 1727, and the Psalms separately, at the same place, in 1728. As it was 
found, however, that this version was written in the dialect of Upper Lithuania, rather than in that 
spoken in Prussia, the Prussian king, Frederic William, ordered the Rev. John Jacob Quandt, his first 
chaplain at Konigsberg, to undertake a new translation of the whole Bible. Mr. Quandt, with the 
assistance of twelve other clergymen, completed a version of the New Testament and Psalms in 1727, 
and the entire Bible was completed and printed at Konigsberg in 1735. The translation was made 
chiefly from Luther's German version, and aid was drawn from Bretkius's version. A second edition 
of the Bible, with the German text, was published at Konigsberg in 1755. The Psalms had been 
separately printed in 1728, and the New Testament in 1749. 

In 1806, information was transmitted to the British and Foreign Bible Society, that although the 
province of Lithuania possessed 74 churches and 460 schools, the people were almost destitute of the 



Class III.] SAMOGITIAN. 313 

Scriptures. An edition 'of 3000 copies of the Bible was accordingly undertaken by the Society at 
Konigsberg; but, owing to various delays, it did not leave the press till 1816. In 18 24, a new edition 
of the same appeared, encouraged by the Society; and in 1836, an edition of the New Testament and 
Psalms, consisting of nearly 5000 copies, was published by the Society at Tilsit. Subsequent editions 
have appeared at the expense of the Society, which raise the total number (up to the close of 1859) 
to 8000 Old Testaments, and 17,113 New Testaments and Psalms. 



SAMOGITIAN. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Isz pradzios buwo zodis, o zodis buwo pas Diewa, o Diewu buwo zodis. 2 Tay buwo 
isz pradzios pas Diewa. 3 Wisi dayktay par ji stojos, o be ano niekas ne stojos, kas tikt 
stojos. 4 Jame buwo giwenimas, o giwenimas buwo szwiesibe zmoniu : 5 O szwiesibe 
tamsibese szwieczia o tarasibes jos ne apeme. G Buwo zmogus siunstas nuog Diewo, 
kurio wardas buwo Jonas. 7 Tasay atejo ant ludiimo, idant duotu ludiima : ape szwiesibe 
idant wisi tiketu par ana. 8 Is nebuwo szwiesibe, bet idant duotu ludiima ape szwiesibe. 

9 Buwo szwiesibe tikra, kuri apszwieczia kiekwiena zmogu ateynanti ant to swieto. 

10 Buwo ant swieto, ir swietas par ji stojos, o swietas jo nepazino. n Sawump atejo, o 
sawieji jo ne prijeme. 12 O kurie tikt prieme ji, dawe jems galibe, idant stotus sanumis 
Diewo, tiems, kurie tik wardan jo. 13 Kurie ne isz kraujo, ney isz noro kuno, ney isz noro 
wiro, bet isz Diewo uzgime. 14 zodis stojosi kunu, ir giweno tarp musu (ir regejome 
garbe jo, garbe kaypo wienaycjo nuog Tiewo) prima malones ir tiesos. 

The Samogitian, which is a dialect of the Lithuanian, is spoken in three districts of Lithuania, 
namely, Telcha, Schaul, and Rosina. The Samogitians number about 112,000 individuals, and are, 
with few exceptions, of the Roman Catholic persuasion. In 1814, the New Testament had been for 
the first time translated into this dialect, by Prince Gedroitz, bishop of Samogitia, who designed to 
print 1000 copies at Wilna at his own expense. The Russian Bible Society agreed to provide 4000 
additional copies, and the London Committee paid for the binding. The edition, when completed, 
was so thankfully received, that, two years afterwards, the Parent Society made a grant of £250 in aid 
of a second edition. It left the press in 1816, and consisted of 5000 copies. A third edition, also 
consisting of 5000 copies, was printed about the year 1831, by the monks in the monastery of 
St. Cazemir, at Wilna. The Old Testament has not yet been translated into this dialect. 



CLASS IT-DETACHED FAMILIES. 

A. EUSKARIAN FAMILY. 



FRENCH BASQUE. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. v. v. 1 to 14 

Hastean Hitca cen, eta Hitca Jaincoarequin cen, eta Hitz hau Jaincoa cen. 
2 Hastean Jaincoarequin cen. 3 Gauga guciac eguinic ican dire hartaz, eta hura gabe deus 
ezta eguin ican, eguin direnetaric. 4 Hartan cen bicia, eta bicia guiconen arguia cen. 
5 Eta arguiac arguitcen du ilhumbetan, bainan ilhumbec ez dute errecebitu. 6 Bacen guicon 
bat icena cuena Joannes; cein baitcen egorria Jaincoaz. 7 Ethorri cen lekhucotassunean, 
bihurceco lekhucotassuna arguiari, amoreagatic guciec sinhex cecaten hartaz. 8 Hura 
ezcen arguia, bainan egorria cen lekhucotassunaren bihurceco arguiari. 9 Argui hau 
eguiazcoa cen, arguitcen duena mundurat ethorcen diren guicon guciac. 10 Munduan cen, 
eta mundua eguin ican da hartaz ; bainan munduac ez du ecagutu. n Bererat ethorri 
cen, eta bereenec ez dute errecebitu. 12 Bainan errecebitu duten guciei, eman dei cucena 
Jaincoaren haur eguinei icaiteco, erran nalii da haren Icenean sinhexten duenei. 13 Ceinac 
ez baitire sorthuac odolez, ez haraguiaren borondateaz, ez guiconaren borondateaz; 
bainan sorthu dire Jaincoaz. 14 Eta Hitca eguin i9an da haragui; egotu da gurequin 
graciaz eta eguiaz bethea; eta behondaztu dugu haren loria, Aitaren Seme bakharrari 
darocan loria becala. 

The French dialect of the Basque language is spoken in the south-western extremity of France, on the 
frontiers of Spain, by a population of about 120,000 individuals. This district is about sixty miles in 
length by forty in breadth ; it formerly included the three subdivisions of Labour, Lower Navarre, and 
Soule, and it is now comprehended in the department of the Lower Pyrenees. In parts of the 
neighbouring departments of Gers and Upper Pyrenees, Basque is still the language of the peasantry, 
while French is spoken in the towns. 

I. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Basque is one of the most singular idioms of Europe, and presents, like the Albanian, the 
Ossete, and the Welsh, etc., the remarkable phenomenon of aboriginal languages preserved in the 
remote or mountainous districts of more civilized countries, where the tongue of the subsequent 
conquerors of those lands is generally spoken. 

The origin of the Basque people, or Euskarians, is, as one of their writers says, " known of God 
only." It seems that the Iberi of the East, who dwelt between the Black and the Caspian Seas, and 
the Iberi of the West, who peopled Spain at a very remote period, were once one people, driven east 
and west by political vicissitudes. There is a degree of similarity between some of the East- Iberian 



Class IV.] FRENCH BASQUE. 315 

names of cities, rivers, etc., and the same in use among the West-Iberians in Spain. But whether 
they travelled east or west is a disputed point. The Iberi were said to be the aborigines of the 
Spanish peninsula; and to have given to it the ancient name Iberia, from the river Iber, Ebro, 
by them called perhaps Ibaibero, ' burning or destroying river,' from its property. For this was the 
name of the small river Tento, between the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir, which Pliny calls Urium 
from the nature of its waters: be that as it may, a comparative study of the Georgian, and of other 
Caucasian idioms, with the Euskarian, might very probably throw additional light on the joint origin 
of the Eastern and Western Iberi. 

In some of its characteristics the Basque exhibits remarkable traits of analogy with Mantchou, 
with Finnish, and with several distinct families of languages spoken in the north of Europe and of 
Asia. Like them, it has no difference of terminations in nouns and pronouns to mark the variation of 
gender; and, like them also, it subjoins prepositions and other particles, and even personal and relative 
pronouns, to nouns and verbs. On the other hand, it differs from them in the abundance of its 
inflections, and in its use of auxiliary verbs. In its elaborate system of verbal conjugation, Basque 
approximates closely to the American or polysynthetic class of languages; and it is rather a singular 
circumstance, that the sound of F is wanting in most American languages and in Basque, and that in 
both a strong antipathy is manifested to the immediate junction of mute and liquid consonants. Many 
Sanscrit words exist in Basque; but in the collocation of these words, says Mr. Borrow, the Tartar 
form is most decidedly observable. These Sanscrit derivatives are usually divested of their initial 
consonant, and made to commence with a vowel ; for Basque is emphatically a vowel language, 
employing comparatively but few consonants, and out of every ten words perhaps eight may be said 
to begin and to end with a vowel. The natural result of this preponderance of vowels is a high degree 
of softness and melody, in which the Basque is said to exceed even the Italian. In point of antiquity, 
Basque far surpasses most of the languages now spoken in Europe ; it was originally, as already 
mentioned, the vernacular tongue of the Iberi, a people generally regarded as the earliest settlers in 
Spain; and from them, as Humboldt has clearly proved, the present Euskaldunes, or natives of the 
Basque provinces, are descended. Basque does not appear to have ever possessed an alphabet proper 
to itself, and in all books which have been printed in this language Roman letters are used. 

II. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The entire New Testament, in Basque, was printed at Rochelle in 1571. It was translated by 
John de Licarrague, and was dedicated to Jeanne dAlbret, queen of Navarre, and brought out at her 
expense. The dialect in which it is written is that of Lower Navarre. The translator is said to have 
been a minister of the Reformed Church, and a native of Beam. 

More than two centuries elapsed before any other edition of the Testament was printed for the 
Basque people, and soon after the commencement of the present century it was found impossible, 
notwithstanding the most diligent search, to meet with a single copy among them. A copy of the 
New Testament of 1571 had, however, been providentially deposited, probably by a French refugee, 
in the library of the University of Oxford. From this copy the British and Foreign Bible Society 
printed, in 1825, at Bayonne, 1000 copies of the Gospel of St. Matthew, under the superintendence of 
Mr. Pyt, a minister of the Reformed Church in Beam. The Roman Catholic Bishop interposed to 
prevent the circulation of this edition, and he possessed himself of no less than 800 copies, which he 
destroyed. Far from being discouraged at this opposition, the British and Foreign Bible Society 
proceeded with their important work, and, after some delay, a new and well- qualified editor was met 
with, named Montleza. Under the care of this editor, and the superintendence of friends at Bourdeaux 
and Bayonne, the text of 1571 was altered in accordance with the modern forms of the language, and 
so many changes were introduced as virtually to constitute a new version. An edition consisting of 
1000 copies of the Four Gospels and Acts, with 1000 separate copies of St. Matthew, and 1000 copies 
of the entire New Testament, was completed at press in 1829. The distribution of this edition was 



316 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

carried on with much activity, and the opposition it encountered had only the effect of drawing the 
attention of many to the contents of the sacred book. A further edition of 1000 Testaments has 
subsequently been issued by the Society. 

As to the results produced in these provinces by the circulation of the Basque and French 
Scriptures, the testimony of the late Mr. Pyt (above mentioned) is remarkable. " In 1821," he said, 
" I found the people of Beam utter strangers to the doctrine of the Gospel, and consequently to the 
life of God. I have left it (in 1830) in a very different condition. It is to the Bible that the change 
must be attributed. The preaching of the Gospel had little success before the establishment of Bible 
Societies in Beam; but when they had spread the word of the Lord, — when this word had found its 
way to each church, and in each church to a goodly number of families, — when they began seriously to 
think about that which the servants of God were preaching; — there was much inquiry about the truth, 
and from that time the blessed work proceeded ; and it continues to do so still, with the same happy 
results." 

The following are specimens of portions of Scripture translated into various dialects of the 
Basque tongue: — 

NOV. TEST. ARMORICUM DIAL. TRECOVIENSL— HERVE SANT LUCAZ, Chap. xiv. v. 1 to 11. 

Jesus a antras un de a sabbat en ti unan ens ar chefo ar Pharisianed, evit quemer 
he repaz, hac ar reman hounan en observe. 2 Er memes amzer a voa laquet dirazan un 
den peini a voa hydropiq. 3 Neuse Jesus a respontas hac a laras d'an doctored ar Yezen 
ha d'ar Pharisianed, o o'houfen digante'i: ha permetet e iac'haat tud de ar sabbat? 4 Mes 
hi a davas. Neuse en, o quemer he zorn, a iac'haas an den-ze hac he gagas d'ar guer. 
5 Neuse a respontas hac a laras dei : Pion ac'hanoc'h, mar deufe, he azen pe he ijen da 
goneanq en eur punz, n'en em lacfe quet querquent en stad d'he deunan er mez de ar 
sabbat ? 6 Mes na hallent respond netra dean var quement-se. 7 Neuse, o consideri 
penos ar re a voe bet pedet d'eur banqued, a choaze ar placo quentan, a broposas dei ar 
barabolen-man, en em laret : 8 Pa veet pedet d'an eured, n'en en laquet quet er plac 
quentan ons tol, gaut aon n'eu em gafe en touez ar re bedet gaut an den iaouanq unan 
enoraploc'h evidoc'h. 9 Ha na deufe an hini en eus ho pedet o taou da laret dac'h : Reit 
ho plac da heman ha na vec'h neuse oblijet da guemer gant mezar plac divean. 10 Mes 
pa veet pedet da eur lein benac et hac en em laquet er plac divean, evit pa arruo an hini 
en eusho pedet, da laret dac'h : Ma mignon, savet huellac'h ; ha neuse e vo eur sujet a 
c'hloar evidoc'h dirac ar re so ous tol guenac'h : n Rac piou-benac en eni sav, a vo humi- 
liet, ha piou-benac en em humilio, a vo savet. 

FRENCH BASQUE DIALECT OF LOWER NAVARRE. 1571— St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 10. 
Hatsean cen Hitza, eta Hitza cen Iaincoa baithan, eta Iainco cen Hitza. 2 Hitz 
haur cen hatfean Iaincoa baithan. 3 Gauca guciac Hitz har caz eguin ican dizade : eta 
hura gabe deus ezta eguin, eguin denic. 4 Hartan cen vicitzea, eta vicitzea cen guiconen 
Arguia. 5 Eta arguia hunec ilhumbean arguitzen du : eta ilhumbeac hura eztu compre- 
henditu. 6 lean da guicon-bat Iaincoaz igorria, Ioannes deitzen cenic. 7 Haur ethor cedin 
teftimoniage ekartera Arguiaz tefstifica lecancat, guoiec harcaz finhets lecatencat. 8 Etzen 
hura Arguia, baina igorri cen Arguiaz teftifica lecancat. 9 Haur cen Argui eguiazcoa,, 
mundura ethor ten den guicon gucia arguitzen dicena. 10 Munduan cen, eta mundua harcaz; 
eguin ican da, eta munduac eztu hura ecagutu. 



Class IV.] FRENCH BASQUE. 317 

ST. MATTHEW IN THE DIALECT BASQUE BAS-NAVAEEAIS. 

St. MATTHEW, Chap. t. v. 1 to 6. 

Yesusek ikhussirik populu han oro, igaran zen mendi baten gainera ; han yarr 
zenian, haren dizipuliak hurrandu zitzaizkon ; 2 Eta erakaxten zeyen, erraiten zielarik : 
3 Dohaxu dira ezpirituz probe direnak, zeren heyena da zeruko erresuma. 4 Dohaxu dira 
ezti direnak, zeren gozatuko dute lurra. 5 Dohaxu dira nigar egiten dutenak, zeren 
konsolatiak izanen dira. 6 Dohaxu dira yustiziaren gossia eta egarria dutenak, zeren 
assiak izanen baidira. 



ST. MATTHEW IN THE DIALECT BASQUE SOULETIN. 

ST. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 6. 

Saldo handi hourac ikhousi zutianian, Jesus igafi zen mendi batetara, eta jarri 
zenian, hullantu zeitzon bere dizipuliac. 2 Eta elhia harturic, hasi zeyen eracasten, 
zioualaric : 3 Dohaxu dira gogaz praube direnac : hagena bei-ta zelietaco erresouma. 
4 Dohaxu ezti direnac: lurraren jabe izanen bei-tira. 5 Dohaxu nigarrez daudenac ; 
hourac izanen bei-tira counsolaturic. 6 Dohaxu ounxaren gose eta egarri direnac; hourac 
aseric izanen bei-tira. 



EEOM " SAN MATEO, TEADUCIDO AL VASCUENCE, DIELECTO NAVAEEO." 

St. MATTHEW, Chap. y. v. 1 to 10. 

Eta icusiric Jesusec yende ec guciac, igan cen mendi baten gaiiera, eta yarri ondoan, 
urbildu citzaizcon bere discipuloac. 2 Eta asiric mintzatcen, eracusten cituen, ciolaric : 
3 Zori onecoac biotzez pobre direnac, cergatic equena da ceruco erreinua. 4 Zori onecoac 
biotz manso dunac, cergatic izain dire lurrain yabeac. 5 Zori onecoac nigar eguiten 
dutenac, cergatic izain dire consolatuac. 6 Zori onecoac yusticiain, edo gauza sainduen 
gosea eta egarria dutenac, cergatic equen deseyuac izain dire guciz beteac. 7 Zori onecoac 
misericordiosoac, cergatic yardetsico dute misericordia. 8 Zori onecoac biotz garbi dunac, 
cergatic icusico dute Yaungoicoa. 9 Zori onecoac baquezcoac, cergatic izain dire deituac 
Yaungoicoain umeac. 10 Zori onecoac yusticia edo gauza ona gatic perseguituac direnac, 
cergatic equena da ceruco erreinua. 



318 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

SPANISH BASQUE. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. LUKE, Chap, xy.'v. 11 to 24. 

11 Gueyago esan zuan ; Guison batec izan cituan semebi. 12 Eta ayetaco chiquienac 
esan cion bere aitari; Aita, ecarzu tocatcen zaidan haciendaren partea. Eta berac partitu 
cien hacienda. 13 Eta ez egun asco gueroz juntatu zuan seme chiquienac berea san gustia, 
eta juan zan, pais urruti batera, eta an ondatu zuan bere arceco gustia, vicio etan viciaz. 
14 Eta gustia gastatu zuan ean, etorri zan goce aundi bat paraje artan, eta bera asi zan 
premia e duquitcen. 15 Eta juan zan, eta alderatu zan paraje artaco batengana ; cefiec 
bialdu zuan bere baserrira, cerriac gordetcera. 16 Eta deseatcen zuan, bere zabela, cerriac 
jaten zutenaren asalaquin betetcea: eta etzion ifiorc ematen. 17 Baho, bereganatu zanean 
esan zuan : j Cembait jornalaric daucate nere aitaren echean oguia sobratua, eta ni emen 
goceac ilcen nago ! 18 Alchatuco naiz, eta juango naiz nere aitagana, eta esango diot: Aita, 
pecatu eguin nuen ceruaren contra, eta zure aurrean : 19 Ezdet mereci zure semea deitua, 
izatea : eguinazazu zure jornalariac becela. 20 Eta alchatu eta juan zan bere aitagana. Eta 
nola oraindic cegoan urruti, icusi zuan bere aitac, eta muvituzan misericordiara, eta beragana 
corrica juanaz, botacion besoac lepora, eta lastana emancion. 21 Eta semeac esan cion : 
Aita pecatu eguindet ceruaren contra eta zure aurrean : ez det mereci zure semea deitua 
izatea. 22 Bafio aitac esan cien bere morroyai : Ecarri itzazute onera aguro arroparic 
ederrena, eta janciozute, eta jarriozute eraztuna beatcean, eta onetacoac onetan : 23 Eta 
ecarriezazute idisco guicen bat, ilzazute, eta jan zagun, eta celebradaigun banquete bat : 
24 Cergatic nere seme au illazan, eta berriz vicitu da : galduzan, eta arquitua izanduda. 
Eta asiciran banquetea celebratcen. 

The three Basque provinces of Spain (Biscay, Guipuscoa, and Alavaj are bounded north by the Bay 
of Biscay, west and south by Old Castile, and east by France and Navarre. They contained, in 1857, 
a population of 426,217. Basque is the language of the peasantry, but Spanish is spoken in the towns, 
and is understood throughout these provinces. The religion, as in the rest of Spain and in the French 
Basque districts, is Roman Catholicism. Spanish Basque also appears to be spoken in the north and 
west of Navarre. It does not differ very materially from French Basque, either in its structure or 
vocabulary. The Biscayan dialect in particular is distinguished by the natives by the name of Escuara, 
which simply means vernacular. 

Many Spanish words have been engrafted on Spanish Basque, and in consequence of these 
additions, and of other alterations induced by the process of time, the version of 1571 (mentioned in 
our account of French Basque) is now scarcely intelligible. And although the British and Foreign 
Bible Society have given to the Basque districts of France an edition of the entire New Testament, 
yet no portion whatever of the Scriptures appears to have been printed in Spanish Basque until 1838, 
when Mr. George Borrow, with the aid of the Society, edited and published an edition of the Gospel 
according to St. Luke. The translation had been executed by a Basque physician, named Oteiza, and 
Mr. Borrow had retained the MS. two years in his possession before committing it to the press; during 
which interval he had sought the advice and opinion of Basque scholars. The translation did not 
meet with unqualified approbation, yet it seemed impossible at that time to obtain a better. In 1848 
this version of St. Luke was revised and amended by the translator, and printed in a second edition, 
at the expense of the Society, through their agent, the Rev. Dr. Thomson. The Acts of the Apostles 
were also translated under the same circumstances, but are not yet printed. 



CLASS IV.-DETAOHED FAMILIES. 

B. FINNISH FAMILY. 



FINNISH. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Qttufa oli ©ana, ja fe ©ana oft Sttmatan ttyfimd, ja Sumala oli fe ©ana. 2 $dmd oti atufa Sumafan tfyfond. 
3 Jtaiffi ovoat fen fautta tef)bt)t; ja ilman fttd ei ole mitdn tefjtty, jofa te^)tt) on. 4 <§dnefd oti (Stdmd, ja ©lama oli 
U)miflen 28alfeu§. 5 3a fe 2Balfeu3 fcimetybefd ^aiflaa, jota ei £imei)3 fdftttdnsjt. 6 g)ri mieg oti IdtjetettS) Sumatatba, 
jonga ninti oti SotjanneS. 7 ©e tuti ftitd SBatfeubefla tobiftamaan, ettd faiSfi uffoiftt tjdnan fauttanfa. 8 (Si Jjdn otlnt 
fe ffialfeug, mutta tydn oti Idfyetettty SBalfeubejk tobiftamaan. 9 ©e oli totinen SBalfeug, jofa icattjiaa Miti itjmifet, 
jotfa mailmaan tutewat. 10 ©e oti maitmafa, ja maitnta on tjdnen fauttanfa tefjtty ; ja ei maitma fjdnbd tunbenut. 
11 -§dn tuti omittenfa, ja ei Ijdnen ontanfa fjdttbd ottanet roafian. I2 STOutta niitte jotfa fjdnen otit waflan, anboi fjdn 
woiman Sumatan ta^ftxi tutta ; jotfa uffowat fydnen nimenfd pddtte. 13 3otfa ei werejtd, eifd lifjan tafjbojla, ei mtyijg 
mieljen tatjbofta, mutta Sumatajia fonbpet ottiat. I4 3a ©ana tuti Sifjari, ja afui meibdn feafamme, da me ndimme 
f;dnen funnianfa niinfuin ainoan $Pojan funnian Sfdjid,) td^nnd atmoa ja totuutta. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

In the earliest periods of history of which we have any record, the northern regions of Europe and 
of Asia were inhabited by a race of men whom the Sclavonians called Tschudi. This name, which 
applies also to the Esthonians and Karelians, has of late been given more particularly in Russian works 
to the several tribes which people the north-east of Asia. But the general name by which the numerous 
hordes of the Finnish people should be called, is, Uralians; on account of their having started of old 
from the Ural mountains, as from a centre of dispersion, east and west over Asia and Europe, where they 
became known as Scythians. All the tribes of this race were subjugated by the German, Tartar, or 
Sclavonian nations; and, after having partly assimilated with them, in habits and in language, they 
went under different names, according to whether they were influenced by Germanic or by Tartar 
tribes. So that we find languages, originally one, now differing widely from one another; as for 
instance, the Tcheremissian and the Hungarian, or more properly, Ungarian. Thus we may divide 
the Finns into five principal tribes, or heads of nations: — I. The Germanized Finns, or Finlanders, who 
inhabit the shores of the Baltic. — IT. The Finns of the Volga: such as the Mordvinians, Tchere- 
missians, etc. — III. The Permian Finns; themselves subdivided into the three heads of Wotiaks, 
Syrones, Zirians, or Sirenians, and the Perms or Permian Finns properly so called. — IV. The Ugarian 
Finns, i.e., Wogules, Ungarians, and Ostiaks of the river Obi. Of these, the Ugarian hordes, called 
Onogurs, Saragurs, and Arogs, invaded Europe about AD. 462. The most powerful of these appear 
to have been the Onogurs, who in later times were called successively, Ugurs, Uigurs, and Ungars. 
They are the ancestors of the present Hungarians, and are called in Eussian, Anals Ugry. In many 



320 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

instances thy were displaced by their conquerors, and driven to the most barren and mountainous 
districts of the north. In the extreme north-western portion of the Russian empire, we meet with one 
of the principal of these tribes, called the Finns, from whom the country which they inhabit derives 
its name. Finland formerly constituted one of the five divisions of Sweden, but since 1809 it has been 
subject to Russia; the rites of the Swedish Church are, however, still observed, and the inhabitants, 
who in 1851 amounted in number to 1,660,700, are, generally speaking, of the Lutheran faith. The 
Finns were converted to Christianity about the middle of the twelfth century, by means of an English 
missionary, who was the first bishop and martyr in Finland. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF TIIE LANGUAGE. 

The Finnish presents as a matter of course, several striking points of resemblance to the 
languages and dialects spoken by the Turks, Tartars, Mongols, Mandshurians, and Tungusians. Like 
them, its nouns are incapable of inflection, and an additional word is requisite to denote the variations 
of case, number, and sex; its prepositions and pronouns are suffixed to the words they modify, and, 
moreover, the vocabularies of all these languages are pervaded by a peculiar system of vocalic harmony, 
which is both rich and sonorous. Finnish verbs have only two tenses, the past and the present, and 
the future is expressed by adding to the form of the present some word indicative of a future action or 
state of being. Many Russian and Swedish words enter into the colloquial Finnish, in consequence 
of the political relations between these nations. 

III. — VERSIONS OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

Soon after the introduction of the Reformation into Finland, the New Testament was translated 
into Finnish by Michael Agricola, rector, and afterwards bishop, of Abo. He was a native of Finland, 
and after having studied divinity at Wittenberg, was recommended by Luther to Gustavus I., king of 
Sweden. His version was printed at Stockholm, in quarto, in 1548. It contains a preface by Agricola, 
in which he states that the translation was made from the Greek, with the aid of the Latin, German, 
and Swedish versions. A translation of the Psalms was undertaken about the same period by Paul 
Justbn, rector of the High School in Abo, in which work he engaged his scholars by way of exercise. 
The translation was revised by Agricola, and printed at Stockholm in 1551, with a curious poetical 
address to the reader, descriptive of the idolatry of the Finns. During the same year, several detached 
portions of the Old Testament were translated and published by Agricola. In his preface to these 
translations, he expressed his sorrow at the impossibility of proceeding with the work, unless adequate 
funds could be procured, and pledged himself to the completion of the translation of the Old Testament, 
provided that he met with encouragement in the sale of his previous editions. Certain political 
obstacles, however, impeded from time to time the publication of the entire Scriptures in Finnish; 
and at length, in 1636, the clergy of Finland appealed to Christina, queen of Sweden, to furnish them 
with a version in their vernacular tongue. In consequence of this petition, orders were given for the 
preparation of an accurate translation at Abo, the capital of the duchy of Finland, on account of the 
University established there, and the greater purity of the language spoken in that city. The execution 
of the work was intrusted to iEschilus Petrseus, doctor and professor of divinity, and afterwards 
bishop of Abo; to Martin Stodius, professor of oriental languages in the university of Abo; to 
Gregory Matthsei, pastor of Puken; and to Henry Hoffman, professor of divinity, and pastor of 
Maschoen. The translation was made from the original texts, and Luther's marginal glosses were 
subjoined to the chapters. It was printed at Stockholm, in folio, with a dedication to Queen Christina. 
Another edition, in the same form, was published in 1644. 

Another version, likewise executed from the inspired originals, by Henry Florin, pastor of 
Paemaren, was published at Abo in 1685; but this version is comparatively little known, the Bible 
sanctioned by Queen Christina having, from its first appearance, been received into general circulation 
as the authorised version of Finland. 



Class IV.] FINNISH. 32t 

Editions of the New Testament, from the text of Queen Christina's version, appeared in 1732, 
1740, 1774, and 1776. But, except two quarto editions in 1758 and 1776 (the latter of which was 
published by subscription), no further attempt was made to publish the entire Bible in Finnish, until 
the introduction, in 1811, of the operations of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Finland. In 
consequence of the pecuniary aid afforded by that Society, and the zealous efforts of their agent, 
Dr. Paterson, a Bible Society was formed at Abo; a report was sent to the Emperor Alexander, and 
he contributed a large donation from his private purse, besides granting to the Society, for five years, 
that part of the corn tithes which was originally appropriated to printing the Scriptures, but which in 
latter times had been devoted to state purposes. Standing types were immediately prepared at 
St. Petersburg, and 8000 copies of the New Testament, in 8vo., were completed at Abo in 1815. In 
the following year, 5000 copies of the entire Bible, also in 8vo., left the press at Abo. A quarto edition 
of the whole Bible, aided by a further grant from the British and Foreign Bible Society, was commenced 
in 1821, and completed in 1827. A specimen copy may be seen in the Library of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society, but, with few other exceptions, this edition (consisting of 7500 copies) was 
destroyed in the extensive fire with which Abo was visited in 1827. Another edition of 5000 copies 
of tbe New Testament was, in consequence, immediately undertaken by the Society: this edition was 
completed at Stockholm in 1829. In 1832, the Bible Society of Abo was again in active operation, 
and had printed a new edition of the quarto Bible, and commenced an 8vo. edition of 10,000 copies 
of the New Testament. 

Apart from the Finnish edition printed at Abo, the St. Petersburg Society undertook some editions 
for tbe purpose of supplying the Finns in their own neighbourhood; but eventually large supplies were 
forwarded to Abo. The New Testament was printed by this Society in 1814, and again in 1822. 
The entire Bible was completed in 1817. 

Many large editions of the Scriptures have subsequently been issued by the joint agency of tbe 
Finnish Bible Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society. 

A distribution of the Scriptures, unprecedented in extent, and justly regarded as one of the ablest 
and best executed projects in the records of Bible Societies, has of late years been carried on in Finland. 
This work commenced in 1841, under the auspices of the late metropolitan of Finland, Archbishop 
Melartin, and through the instrumentality of the British and Foreign Bible Society. From statistical 
documents collected at that period for the guidance of the Society's operations, it was ascertained that 
there were,^- 

lst, 47,254 Finnish families who possessed at least a New Testament. 

2nd, 39,675 Finnish families who were unprovided, but were able to purchase the Scriptures at 
cost price. 

3rd, 31,334 Finnish families who were unprovided, and so poor as to be able to give only a little 
for a New Testament. 

4th, 50,442 Finnish families totally destitute of the word of God, and so extremely poor as to 
require an entirely gratuitous distribution. 

On these statements being forwarded to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
the work of supplying, first of all, the 50,442 families, for whom an entirely gratuitous distribution had 
to be made, was immediately commenced. This provision was ere long effected, and subsequent efforts 
have gone far towards supplying the additional wants above referred to. 

From a letter addressed by the present Archbishop of Finland (Dr. Bergenheim) to the British 
and Foreign Society's Agency at St. Petersburg, we derive the following interesting information in 
reference to the work thus happily in progress of accomplishment. During the thirteen years (1834-47) 
tha + - the affairs of the Finnish Bible Society were under the superintendence of tbe late Archbishop 
Melartin, there were prepared and distributed in Finland three editions of the entire Bible, making in 
all 13,000 copies, — one in the Swedish language of 3000 copies, and the two others in Finnish; besides 
an edition of 10,000 Finnish New Testaments, with the Psalter. Further editions of 10,000 copies of 

22 



322 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

the entire Bible, and 20,000 New Testaments, have since been completed. The editions of the Finnish 
New Testament printed on account of the British and Foreign Bible Society, during the five years 
immediately prior to 1853, embraced: — 1st. An edition of 20,000 copies printed at Borga, in 1847; 
2nd. An edition of 25,000 copies, also printed at Borga; 3rd. An edition of 20,000 copies, printed at 
Helsingfors, and to half the number of which the Psalms are to be appended. 

By means of the above noble efforts on the part of the British and Foreign Bible Society, there 
have been distributed gratuitously in Finland, since 1841, altogether 50,086 copies of the New 
Testament in the Finnish language, while a further number of 43,914 copies have been sold at an 
extremely moderate price. The total number of copies of the Finnish Scriptures printed directly for 
the British and Foreign Bible Society up to the close of 1859, amounted to 134,000 (consisting of 
10,000 Bibles and 124,000 Testaments), besides 15,000 copies of the Testament and Psalms. 

It is difficult, in a thinly-populated country like Finland, to observe the immediate results of 
Scripture distribution among the great body of the inhabitants. But particular instances of the good 
that has already been effected are not wanting, and there is no doubt that a great and increasing desire 
for the possession of the sacred volume has been excited among the whole of the Finnish population. 
The Finnish clergy, too, especially the younger portion of them, are said to be much more abundant 
in their labours than formerly, and great numbers of the population are being converted to a reformed 
life. The exertions that have been made, it may be fairly hoped, will eventually be found, under the 
blessing of God, the means of preserving the Lutherans of Finland from the insidious advances of the 
Eussian Greek Church. 



LAPPONESE. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 13. 
[Heenosandije, 1811.] 
Qllgofne let ipafo, ja pafo lei Su&meten lubne, ja pafo lei SuBmel. Sattef lei algofne Sufimeten lubne : ja tan 
fcafto lat) fat! amet) taffatum nau atte tan rcana i aftef le taffatum faif tafle, mi taffatum te. San ftfne lei l)dgga, 
ja tjdgga lei atmatji tjuoufeg. Sat tjuoufeg tjuoufa fjeubnjebegne, ja fjeubnjeb i le. tab tdbbam. Se lei tal fameg 
alma rajatum 3ufmtelegt, futen namma lei 3ot)anneg. Sat #ati wittenen, rcai falfai wittenagtet tan tjuofagen pit, 
voai faifat) falfin So patto fcuoftctorcet jatfoi. 31am fobn tjuofeg, voatla fobn pati reittcnagtet tan tjuoufagen pir, 
juffo le tat fabneg tjuoufeg, mi le rcdralbi £dtam, ja ^aijagtjuoufa faifeit almatjiet. @obn Id rodralbefgne, ja tcdralb 
le fo pafto taffatum, roalla rodralb ibtji titan go tatba. @obn pati etjeg lanbei ja albe digot) lifan igtjin ftta fo 
tuojtotet : »atla taiti futet) go tuogtotin, tat le jaffin go naman nal, roabbi fobn refteb, 3ubmelen manan [jabber, 
maggaren ahnatg tdgatorca ifdirca rdgatemen pafto, dbtjelatg ufton jdlla juonfen dfman fltuben melt, ainat 3ufmteleft. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 
Lapland, the most northerly country of Europe, comprehends under its three general divisions of 
Russian, Swedish, and Norwegian Lapland, an area of about 150,000 square miles, two-thirds of which 
belong to Russia, and the rest to Sweden. The population has been loosely estimated at 60,000, of 
whom 9000 only are Laplanders, the rest being Swedes, Norwegians, and Russians. The Laplanders 
under the sway of Russia belong to the Greek Church, and those subject to Sweden are professedly 
Lutherans; but they did not, as a nation, assume the Christian name before the seventeenth century, 
and in many parts of the country they are said still to retain many of their heathen customs. 



Class IV.] LAPPONESE. 323 

IT. — CHARACTEKISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Laplanders and Finns are said to have originally constituted one nation, and the Lapponese, 
from its great similarity in structure to the Finnish language, affords proof of this fact. Lapponese has 
been considerably changed by the number of foreign words that have been engrafted on it; for the 
ignorant Laplanders had no terms of their own expressive of any objects not strictly connected with 
their uncivilised mode of life. In the Lapponese version of 1 Tim. iii. 16, not fewer than six of the 
words are of foreign origin, and of these six not fewer than five are Swedish. Several different dialects 
of Lapponese prevail in Lapland; and it has been found necessary, as will be hereafter mentioned, to 
prepare a separate version of the Scriptures for the inhabitants of Norwegian Lapland. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE; 

In the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Laplanders were wholly ignorant of letters, and 
did not possess a single book written in their language. Before the year 1619, Gustavus Adolphus 
began to establish schools for their instruction, and a primer was published containing, among other 
things, the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer in Lapponese. A manual, containing the 
Psalms, the Proverbs, the book of Ecclesiasticus, the dominical Gospels and Epistles, with several 
religious tracts, was published at Stockholm in 1648. The translator and editor was John Jonae 
Tornaeus, a native of Sweden, and pastor in Tornea. This work was not generally understood, on 
account of the peculiarity of the dialect in which it was written, and accordingly another manual was 
compiled by Olaus Stephen Graan, a schoolmaster and pastor in the Umea-Lappmark. This second 
manual, written in a more generally intelligible dialect, contained extracts from the dominical and 
festival Gospels and Epistles, and was printed at Stockholm in 1669. 

It is unknown at what time, or under what circumstances, the New Testament was translated into 
Lapponese. The first printed edition of which we have any account was published at Stockholm in 
1755. A copy of this edition is in the library of the British and Foreign Bible Society. No further 
edition appears to have been issued till 1810, when the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society availed themselves of the assistance of the Evangelical Society at Stockholm to print an edition 
of 5000 copies of the New Testament from the edition of 1755, which was then completely exhausted. 
The bishop of Tornea undertook to superintend the publication, and it was printed at Hernosand, in 
8vo., in 1811. A version of the Bible in Lapponese was published in quarto at the same place, and 
during the same year; and a copy of this work (which does not appear to have been committed 
a second time to the press) may be seen in the library of the British and Foreign Bible Society. With 
the exception of a quarto edition of the Testament, likewise published in 1811, and some copies of the 
Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, printed at Christiania in 1838, no further editions have appeared. 

Features of striking interest in reference to the moral and religious condition of the Lapland 
population have recently manifested themselves. A great religious revival appears to be in progress in 
that country. "The continual and increasing awakenings in Lapland (wrote Dr. Polvsander to the 
St. Petersburg Agency of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in 1851), particularly in the frontier 
territories, through which the rivers Tornea and Muonio flow, occupy at present my greatest attention. 
The Scriptures are still much sought after." In reference to the facilities for introducing into the 
country a new edition of the New Testament and Psalms in the Lapponian tongue, it has been stated 
that the local hierarchy would readily further the work. 






324 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

QUANIAN, OR NORWEGIAN LAPLANDISH. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Algost feei sadne, ja sadne laei Ibmel lut, ja sadne laei Ibmel. 2 Dat algost lsei Ibmel 
lut. 3 Buokrakkan dam boft lae dakkujuvvum ; ja alma dam taga i mikkege lsek dakku- 
juvvum dast, mi jo lse dakkujuvvum. 4 Dam sist lsei aellem ; ja aellem lsei olbmu cuovgas. 
6 Ja cuovgas ssevdnjadassi baitta, ja saevdnjad i dam arvedam. 6 Ibmelest vuolgatuvui 
olmus, gaen namma Johannes laei. 7 Dat duodastussan bodi, cuovgas birra duodastet, vai 
buokak su boft oskusL 8 1 son tern cuovgas, mutto (vuolgatuvvum laei) cuovgas birra 
duodastet. 9 Dat laei dat duot cuovgas, mi juokke olbmu cuvggijaegje lae, gutte mailbmai 
boatta. 10 Son mailmest laei, ja mailbme su boft dakkujuvvum lae, ja mailbme i dovddam 
su. " Son bodi su je^as lusa, ja (su) jecak aei vuosstaivalddam su. 12 Mutto nuft aedna- 
gak, gudek vuosstaivaldde su, sigjidi famo son addi Ibmel manan saddat, sigjidi, gudek 
su nama ala osskuk ; 13 gudek varai mield aei laek rie_gadam, aeige oaze dato mield, aeige 
olbma dato mield, mutto Ibmelest. u Ja sadne oazzen skdai, ja asai min gaskast, — ja mi 
oinimek su haervvasvuoda, nuftgo a<5e aidno barne haervvasvuoda, — dievva armost ja 
duotvuodast. 

Finmark, or, as it is sometimes called, Norwegian Lapland, forms the most northerly portion of 
Lapland, having for its northern boundary the Arctic, or Frozen Ocean. The poor wandering Quiines 
who inhabit this dreary region, and who in number may amount to about 6000, were left till within 
the last half century without any version of the Scriptures in their vernacular dialect. Copies of the 
Finnish Testament were sent to them by the Bible Society of Finland, but the Quiines were found 
totally incapable of understanding that version; and although they speak a dialect of the Lapponese, 
even the Lapponese Testament is unintelligible to them. In 1822 the British and Foreign Bible 
Society voted £200 to promote a version in Quanian, and the Norwegian Bible Society, in consequence, 
applied to some learned friends in Copenhagen to transmit to them any MSS. that might be found in 
the late Laplandish seminary. No MSS., however, appear to have existed in this uncultivated dialect; 
and in 1828 the Norwegian Society made arrangements for the immediate translation of the New 
Testament. The Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society agreed to bear the entire expense 
of the work; and, at the suggestion of Dr. Pinkerton, it was resolved to print the new version in 
parallel columns with the Danish. The execution of the translation was committed to Mr. Stockfleth, 
a missionary of eminent devotedness, whose efforts to preach the Gospel to this people had been greatly 
blessed. He had formerly been an officer in the army, but in 1828 was labouring as a pastor among 
the uncivilised tribes of Laplanders under the 71st degree of north latitude, where, during two months 
of the year, the sun never rises. In 1840 the translation of the New Testament was completed, and 
an edition was published at Christiania, under the superintendence of the Norwegian Bible Society. 1 

1 In evidence of the social and moral advantages that have resulted from missionary labour among the previously 
benighted tribes of Northern Europe, it may not be uninteresting to quote the independent testimony offered by a 
recent visitor to a Lappish tribe on the Norwegian coast. They were found to be in possession " of some excellently 

printed and well-cared-for books, particularly a Bible We found some of them also engaged in writing. This 

Mas a matter of surprise, where we had been led to expect something approaching barbarism ; and we soon had 
a proof that their pretension to religious impressions was not merely theoretical, for they positively refused to taste 
the spirits which were freely offered to them, and of which our party partook ; though it is well known that excessive 
and besotting drunkenness used to be the great sin of the Lappish tribes, and still is of those who have not been 
converted to habits of order and religion, by the zealous efforts of the Swedish missionaries, who have indefatigably 
laboured amongst them." — Norway and its Glaciers, etc. Br James T>. Foebes. Edinburgh, 1854. 



Class IV.] HUNGARIAN. 325 

HUNGARIAN. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Kezdetben vala amaz Ige es az az Ige vala az Istennel, es az az Ige Isten vala. 2 Ez 
as Ige kezdetben az Istennel vala. 3 Mindenek ez altal teremtettek, es 6 nala nelkiil 
semmi nem teremtetett, valami teremtetett. 4 O benne vala az elet, es az elet vala az 
embereknek ama' Vilagossagok. 5 Es ez a' Vilagossag a' setetsegben fenylik, de a' setetseg 
azt meg nem esmerte. 6 Vala egy ember Istentol botsattatott, kinek neve Janos vala. 
7 Ez jott tanubizonysagot tenni, azaz, hogy ama' Vilagossagrol bizonysagot tenne, hogy 6 
altala mindenek hinnenek. 8 Nem vala ez ama' Vilagossag ; hanem kuldetett volt, hogy 
bizonysagot tenne arrol a' Vilagossagrol. 9 Ez vala amaz igaz Vilagossag, melly megvila- 
gosit minden e' vilagra sziiietett embert. 10 E' vilagon vala, es e' vilag 6 altala teremtetett; 
de e' vilag otet meg nem esmere. n Az ovei kozze" jove, es az ovei otet be nem vevek. 
12 Valakik pedig otet bevevek, ada azoknak illy meltosagot, hogy Istennek fijaiva lennenek, 
tudniillik azoknak, kik az 6 neveben hisznek. 13 Kik nem a' vertol, sem a' testnek aka- 
ratjatol, sem a' ferjfiunak indulatjatol, hanem Istentol szlilettettek. u Es amaz Ige teste 
lett, es lakozott mi kozottiink, (es lattuk az 6 ditsoseget, ugymint az Atyanak egyetlenegy 
sziilottenek ditsoseget,) ki teljes vala kegyelemmel es igazsaggal. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

This language is spoken by the dominant race in Hungary, a people of Finnish extraction, mentioned 
in the Russian annals under the name of Ugri, and now distinguished by the name of Magyar, which 
in former ages was the designation of their most powerful tribe. Although of the same stock as the 
feeble and degraded Ostiaks of the Obi, their condition has been so highly improved since their conquest 
of Hungary, that in all physical, moral, and intellectual qualities they rank among the foremost nations 
of Europe. In number they amount only to 4,866,000, whereas the entire population of Hungary 
amounted, in 1854, to 8,744,000: the remainder of the population consists of Slovaks, Croatians, 
Germans, Wallachians, Rusniaks, and Jews. The government is monarchical, limited by the power of 
the aristocracy: but the separate constitution previously enjoyed by the Hungarian nation has been 
abrogated since the abortive insurrection of 1848-9, and Hungary is now a mere province of Austria. 
The religion of the state is Romanism : more than two millions of the Magyars, however, are Protestants. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Magyar language still preserves clear indications of its original connection with the cognate 
dialects spoken by the Ostiaks and Voguls, on the banks of the Obi. It has become enriched and 
perfected by the long-continued influence of European civilisation, yet the characteristic traits of the 
Finnish family may be detected as readily now as when the Magyars first entered Europe. The 
laws of vocalic harmony which pervade all Finnish languages are scrupulously observed in Magyar. 
This language resolves the vowels into two classes, a, o, u masculine, and e, i, o, and u feminine — that 
is, hard and soft, strong and weak; a feature common to the Tartar languages, such as the Mongolian, 
Turkish, and Tartar, properly so called. A masculine and a feminine, that is, a hard and soft vowel 
are not allowed to meet in one word, not even in a compound term; for if the last syllable of a word 
have a masculine vowel, the affix must be made to agree with it accordingly. Hence the Magyar 
language is surpassingly beautiful in uniformity of character and melody of sound. 



326 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN" THIS LANGUAGE. 

The earliest Magyar version of any portion of the Scriptures was made in 1541 , by John Sylvester, 
a native Magyar; it consisted only of the Four Gospels and Acts, and was dedicated to King Ferdinand 
and his son Maximilian; no printed copy is now known to be in existence, yet in " Bright's Hungary" 
it is stated that an edition was printed at Szigetvar in 1541, at the expense of Thomas Nadaschdy. 
Le Long also mentions an edition of St. Paul's Epistles, printed at Cracow in 1553, and another version 
of the Four Gospels, executed by G. P. Pestinus, and printed at Vienna in 1536; he also speaks of an 
edition of the entire New Testament, published at Vienna in 1574. Another version of the New 
Testament was printed at Vienna in 1574, without the translator's name. 

The first edition of the whole Bible in Magyar appeared at Visoly, near Gonz (or Guns), in 1589. This 
is the present authorised version of Hungary. The translation was made from the Hebrew and Greek, 
conferred with the Vulgate and several other Latin versions, by Gaspard Caroli, or Karoli, a Magyar 
by birth, pastor of the church of Gonz, and dean of the Brethren of the Valley of Kaschau. He had 
imbibed the principles of the Reformation at Wittenberg, where he had studied in his youth ; and the 
desire of disseminating among his countrymen the knowledge of the truths which he had found precious 
to his own soul was, in all probability, the cause of his embarking in this arduous undertaking. In the 
printing of his work he was assisted by Count Stephen Bathory, who obtained a printer from Germany, 
and established a printing-office for the purpose at Visoly. The sheets, as they passed through the 
press, were corrected by Albert Molnar, afterwards regent of the college of Oppenheim : he afterwards 
subjected the whole to a careful revision, and published an improved edition at Hanau in 1608, accom- 
panied with a Magyar translation of the Heidelberg Catechism, the Liturgy of the Hungarian Churches, 
and a metrical version of the Psalms. Molnar subsequently published two other editions of the Bible, 
namely, in 1612 at Oppenheim, and in 1645 at Amsterdam: he also published two separate editions of 
the New Testament and of the Psalms, in 12mo., at Amsterdam, in 1646. 

When these editions were exhausted, another revision of the Hungarian Bible was undertaken by 
Count Stephen Bethlen D'Iktar, brother to Prince Gabriel Bethlen: he assembled a number of learned 
men to prepare the work, and established a printing-press at Waradin. In 1657 the revision was 
completed, and the printing commenced; but in 1660, when the edition, intended to consist of 10,000 
copies, was but half completed, the city of Waradin was taken by the Turks, and 4000 copies were lost 
or destroyed. The remaining copies were saved and taken to Claudiopolis, or Koloswar, in Transylvania, 
where the edition was completed in 1661. Another edition (the sixth) of the Bible was published, in 
8vo., at Amsterdam in 1684-5, by N. K. M. Totfalusi, by whom a separate edition of the New 
Testament and Psalms was printed, in 12mo., during the same year. The seventh edition of the Bible 
was published at Cassel in 1704, edited by John Ingebrand. Editions also appeared at Utrecht in 
1730, 1737, and 1794, in 8vo.; at Basle in 1751, in 8vo.; and at Leipsic in 1776, in 8vo. An 
edition of the New Testament was printed at Wittenberg in 1736, in 8vo., and a metrical version of 
the Psalms at Debreczin in 1723, in 12mo. Another revision of the Hungarian Bible, which perhaps 
ought rather to be regarded as a new translation, was executed by Dr. Comarin, pastor of Debreczin, 
but he died before it could be committed to the press, and the MS. was sent for publication to the 
celebrated Vitringa. It was possibly from this MS. that the edition of 1716-17 was printed in 
Holland, the circulation of which was prevented by the Jesuits, who seized and destroyed 3000 
copies. 

Two Romanist versions of the Scriptures, the first of which was never printed, have been executed 
in the Hungarian language. The earlier of these versions was made about the close of the sixteenth 
century, by Stephen Arator, a Jesuit, whose real name was Szanthus. The other version, which was a 
translation from the Vulgate, was printed at Vienna in 1626, in folio. It was translated by George 
Kaldi, a Jesuit, who rendered it in all respects conformable to the dogmas of his party. He afterwards 
published at Vienna an edition of the dominical Gospels and Epistles, as read in the mass. 

A Bible Society was formed at Presburg in 1812, encouraged by a donation of £500 from the 



Class IV.] HUNGARIAN. 327 

Parent Society; but, with the exception of an edition of the Bible mentioned by Van Ess in 1823, no 
editions of the Hungarian Scriptures appear to have been published by that Society. In 1814, 
Dr. Pinkerton found at Utrecht upwards of 2000 copies of the authorised Hungarian Bible, belonging 
to the abovementioned edition of 1794: these copies had never been circulated, owing to a reverse 
of circumstances sustained by the individual with whom the edition had originated. The copies were 
purchased by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and transmitted to Presburg for distribution. 

In 1830-31, Mr. William Greenfield, of the British and Foreign Bible Society, reported upon and 
prepared a copy of the authorised Hungarian New Testament; but it does not appear that an edition 
was carried through the press. It was not, indeed, till 1837 that Hungary really became accessible 
to the operations of the Society; but during that year the publication of the Scriptures was commenced 
in Hungary itself; 8000 copies of the Bible, 13,000 New Testaments, and 2500 copies of the New 
Testament and Psalms were successively issued from the press at Guns (Gonz), and in 1841 the whole 
of the Scriptures was stereotyped. The total number of Hungarian Bibles and Testaments printed by 
the British and Foreign Bible Society up to the close of the year 1859, has been as follows: — 

Bibles .... 79,300 
Testaments .... 27,000 
Testaments and Psalms . 21,000 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The most interesting accounts have, from year to year, been transmitted concerning the joy with 
which the Bible Society's editions have been received in Hungary. The poor Magyars, it is said, not- 
withstanding their deep poverty, which in some districts verges on destitution, have been found willing 
to devote their last kreutzer to the purchase of a copy of the Bible; and even the wealthier classes, to 
whom, from the previous scarcity of copies, the truths of the Gospel had become strange, are now 
beginning to speak with reverence of the Scriptures. In 1848 intelligence was received from Hungary, 
that " the dissemination of the Scriptures was carried on with increased blessing," and that " the Bible 
was spread over the whole land." " Not merely the common people," it was said, " but the so-called 
higher and more enlightened classes are beginning to read the Scriptures; and the Bible and its sacred 
contents are frequently spoken of with deep interest in mixed companies." 

The calamitous circumstances of 1848-49, which converted Hungary into a vast theatre of war, 
spread a blight over all these fair prospects, and completely stayed, for the time, the work of Bible 
distribution in this portion of the European continent. Upon the termination of the war, however, 
great eagerness to obtain the Scriptures was again shown, and the issue of further editions was shortly 
commenced by the British and Foreign Bible Society, which opened agencies for the purpose at Giins 
and Pesth. But the subsequent policy of the Austrian government, referred to in a preceding page, 
has put an effectual stop to these operations, and Hungary — like the other parts of the Austrian empire 
— is for the present a closed land to the agents of Bible distribution. 



328 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV 



KAEELIAN. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THE KARELIAN VEESION, see Plate 7, page 338. 

The Karelians, to the number of at least 100,000, dwell in the government of Tver, in European Russia. 
They speak a distinct dialect of the Finnish language, varying in many respects from that spoken in the 
government of Olonetz, the proper Kyrialand, or Karelia, of the Scandinavian historians. It seems 
impossible to ascertain how, or at what time, they left their original country to settle in Tver; but it 
is generally supposed that they were located in their present district by order of Peter the Great. The 
numerous Swedish words which occur in their vocabulary appear to corroborate this hypothesis, for these 
could not have been introduced had not the Karelians held intercourse with the Finns after the political 
connection had been established between Finland and Sweden. The Karelian dialect has been greatly 
modified by the influence of the Sclavonic and Eussian languages: all the males of this tribe, in fact, 
habitually speak Eussian, being accustomed to use this language in their frequent visits to the towns 
for purposes of traffic. The females, however, can in general converse only in Karelian. 

An edition of 2000 copies of the Gospel according to St. Matthew was published for the benefit 
of this tribe, by the Eussian Bible Society, at Kazan, in 1820. It was printed in the modern Eussian 
characters, with the addition of some few accents to denote certain diphthongal sounds peculiar to the 
Karelian. The members of this tribe belong to the Eussian Church, and are therefore in the habit of 
using the Sclavonic version in the public services of religion, which circumstance may account for the 
occasional use of Sclavonic terms in their version of St. Matthew. They are said to possess a translation 
of parts of the national liturgy in MS. ; but this Gospel was the first book ever printed for their use. 
In consequence, probably, of the suspension of the Eussian Bible Society, no other portion of the 
Scriptures has as yet been translated into Karelian. 



OLONETZIAN. 



A small portion of the Scriptures has been translated into the Olonetzian, which is, in reality, 
a sub-dialect of Karelian. A specimen of this translation was sent in 1820 to Tver, to be compared 
with the dialect spoken in that government; but the suspension of the Eussian Bible Society arrested 
the progress of this undertaking, and we have of late years heard nothing further concerning the 
Olonetzian version. 



Class IV.] DOKPAT ESTHONIAN. 329 

DORPAT ESTHONIAN. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHJST, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Qtfgmigfen otli fe fimna, ninf [e fonna olli Summato man ninf Sumntal oflf fe fonna. 2 ©efantma oKi afgmigfen 
Summala man. 3 Jtif out I&fctn temma tettu : Stinf mibbafe et otle temmota tettu, me§ tettu om. 4 £enuna jtSfen 
olli eflo, ninf fe etlo oEi innimiste walgu§ : 5 0HnI tratgug paift pimmeban, ninf pimmebus ei oue tebba roaStairotnu. 
6 Utg innintinne Idtjljdteti Summalaji, fel oGi ninuui Saan. 7 ©efamma tutti tunni3tu§fe perrafl, et temma icalgitsfeft 
tunntetaS, et fif temma Idoot uSfusfe. 8 £emma eg cite mitte iralguS, enge et temma tunnt§ta§ walguSfeji. '■> Soijtne 
watguS, fumfe f if tnntmisft roatguStap, tufli ilma fisfe. 10 6e oJIt ilmart, ninf tint om temma laWi fanu : 0ttnf tint eg 
tttnr.e tebba mitte. u Xetnnta tuflt omnia ftsfe, ninf ommatfe e§ motta tebba rca3ta. 12 @ni mitto tebba roa§ta roottura, 
neile anb temma rcoimuft Sumntala latftS faba, tea temma nimme ftsfe ufftea : 13 J?ea ei ofle fiinbinu trerreft, ei fa tifjlfja 
taf)tmt§fejl, enge Summalafi. u Stinf fe fonna faije ItyfyaS, ninf efti metje fean, (ninf meije ndime temma aunmstuft, fui 
aino fiinbinu (p o i a) aumugtufi eSfajl,) tdus atmo ninf totter. 

Esthonia is a maritime government in the north-west of European Russia, and forms one of the 
Baltic provinces. It was sold by the Danes to the Teutonic Knights in 1347, was conquered by Sweden 
in 1561, and annexed to Russia by Peter the Great in 1710. Its area is about 6,870 square miles, 
and its population amounted in 1851 to 289,800. The lower classes only of this population are, strictly 
speaking, Esthonians, the wealthier inhabitants being mostly of Danish or German descent. The lan- 
guage, which exhibits the same characteristics as other Finnish tongues, is spoken in two dialects, the 
Dorpat and the Reval Esthonian. The former is spoken in South Esthonia, and the latter prevails in 
the North. Almost all the Esthonians are of the Lutheran persuasion. They were first put into 
possession of the oracles of God in the year 1686, when John Fischer, a German professor of divinity 
and general superintendent of Livonia, published an Esthonian version of the entire New Testament. 
This translation had been executed by Fischer, at the command of Charles XL A version of the Old 
Testament, made by the same translator, aided by Gosekenius, appeared in 4to. in 1689. This was 
followed in the year 1700 by an edition of the Gospels and Epistles for the festival days of the church. 
It is uncertain in which dialect these early versions were written, but it is probable that they were 
understood throughout Esthonia. 

A version of the New Testament in Dorpat Esthonian was printed at Riga in 1727, in 8vo. This 
edition was speedily exhausted; and the Dorpat Esthonians being left without further supplies, made 
use of the Reval Esthonian version of 1739. In 1810, the prosecution of certain inquiries, instituted 
by the British and Foreign Bible Society, concerning the state of the Scriptures in Russia, led to the 
discovery that the Esthonians were almost destitute of the Scriptures. Grants in aid of a new edition 
were voted by the Society; and in 1815, through the exertions of Dr. Paterson, 5000 copies of the 
Dorpat Esthonian New Testament were completed at press. In 1824 the Russian Bible Society 
reported that they had printed 8000 copies of the same version. Another edition of the New Testament 
was undertaken by the Dorpat Bible Society in 1836; and during the same year a version of the 
Psalms, translated from the Hebrew by the Rev. Ferdinand Meyer, of Carolen, was printed by the aid 
of the Parent Society: this latter edition consisted of 4500 copies. In a letter received from an 
Esthonian pastor, dated January, 1850, it is stated that " an edition of the Bible has just been issued 
at Reval and Dorpat." The work of Scripture distribution is now extensively prosecuted from both 
of these towns on behalf of the American Bible Society, which has supplied considerable funds for the 
purpose. An edition of 10,000 Dorpat Esthonian New Testaments was authorised by the British and 
Foreign Bible Society in 1856, the version being first carefully revised by Dr. Kiel: the execution of 
this work appears, however, to have been hitherto delayed. 



330 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 



HEYAL ESTHONIAN. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

9llgmigfeg otti fe ©anna, ja fe ©anna otti Summala jureg, ja fe ©anna otti 3'ummaf. 2 ©efamma oWi algmigfeg 
Summala jureg. 3 Jteif agjab on temnta IdbT te^tub, ja ilma temmata e£ otte iu)tegi tefytub, mtg tef)tttb on. 4 £emnta 
fee§ otti etto, ja fe etto otti innimegte rcalgug, 5 3a fe walgug patgtig ptmmebugfeg, ja pimmebug ei tctitnub febba wagto. 
6 (Ut'g innimenne, 3oannee nimmi, fai 3ummataft IdKitub; 7 ©eflnnane tuCCt tunntgtugfer'g, et temma fefl walgugfefi 
:pibbi tunnigtama, et hit temma Idfeti £tbbib uff'ma. 8 £emma e£ olnub mitte fe walgug, raaib, et temma ptbbi tunnigs 
tama feft rcatgugfefi) 9 @e otti fe togfine rcatgug, leg walgugtat ?eif innimegfeb, fut ta matltna flgfe tutti. 10 Semma 
otti mailmag, ja maitm on temma laWn te^ttib, ja matlnt ei tunnub tebba mitte. " Semma tuttt omma flgfe, ja neeb 
ommaffeb ei n>otnub tebba mitte rcagto ; 12 2(gga ni mitto, Jut tebba rcagtorcotftb, neite anbig temma melenjatba Summala 
la^ftfg faba, ?eg temma nimme ftgfe uffrcab, 13 Jteg e£ otte roetreft, ei Iif)f)a tafytnttgfejt, egga mefjfje tatytmigfejt, toaib 
Summalaft fiinbinub. u 3a fe ©anna fai ufjfjafg, ja wottig fut ii^eg maiag meie feag (Uaia (ia meie nagginte temnta au 
fui Sgfafi ainofiinbtnub $oia au) tatg atmo ja tot. 

The Reval dialect of the Esthonian language is spoken in the north of Livonia, including the three 
adjacent islands of Oesel, Dagden (or Dagb'e), and Mohn. In 1811 the Moravian missionaries, who 
were labouring among this people, calculated that 2500 individuals in Eeval Esthonia, and 5000 in the 
above islands, had been awakened to a sense of the importance of religion. 

The first edition of the Scriptures in Reval Esthonian was printed at Reval in 1739, in 4to. ; it 
was partly published at the expense of the celebrated Count Zinzendorf. A second edition is said to 
have followed in 1773, and a third in 1790. These two latter editions (if actually published, which 
seems doubtftil) could have comprised no large amount of copies; for in 1810 it was reported that to 
many of the peasantry in Esthonia the Bible was unknown. In 1815, through the zeal of Dr. Paterson, 
and the aid afforded by the British and Foreign Bible Society, an edition of 10,000 copies of the New 
Testament was printed in Reval Esthonian. The Russian Bible Society appears to have published 5100 
copies of the Old Testament in this version, prior to the year 1824, and some recent editions have been 
issued at Dorpat. The most extensive aid has, however, been furnished by the American Bible Society, 
which in 1850 supplied the funds for printing (in Finland), an edition of 20,000 New Testaments in 
Reval Esthonian, 10,000 of them having the Psalms appended. This welcome supply was transmitted 
to the Reval Bible Society for distribution. 

The Esthonian Scriptures in both dialects have been particularly blessed to the soldiers of that 
nation. The sons of the peasantry are frequently drafted into Russian regiments, and stationed at 
a great distance from their native land. Here they are obliged to serve twenty-five years, without ever 
hearing a Protestant clergyman address them in their native language; and being thus precluded from 
hearing the Gospel preached, their need of the written Word of God is the more especially urgent. It 
is said that the joy of these soldiers is unbounded when copies of the Scriptures are distributed among 
them. They have been known to crowd around the distributor, and to fall at his knees in token of 
unfeigned gratitude; and they have even kissed the sacred volume, and invoked blessings on their 
benefactors. 






Class IV.] MORDVINIAN. 331 



TSCHEREMISSIAN. 

FOE SPECIMEN" OF THE TSCHEEEMISSIAN VERSION, see Plate 9, page 356. 

The people by whom this dialect is spoken dwell along the banks of the Volga and Kama, in the 
Eussian governments of Kasan and Simbirsk. Tooke says that members of this tribe are also to be 
found on both sides of the Volga, particularly on the left side, in the government of Nij mi-Novgorod . 
The total number of Tscheremissians has been estimated at 50,000; most of them belong to the 
Russian Church. 

In 1819 a translation of part of the Scriptures into Tscheremissian was undertaken by the Russian 
Bible Society, and twelve translators were employed in the preparation of the work. The Gospel of 
St. Matthew, the first portion completed, left the press in 1820. To ascertain whether the dialect in 
which it is written could be readily understood by the Tscheremissians, the Archbishop of Kasan 
collected a number of them together, and caused part of this Gospel to be read aloud to them. When 
these poor people heard the words of Jesus in their own tongue, "they wept for joy, and were ready 
to fall down and worship." An edition of the Four Gospels in the same dialect was therefore printed 
in the following year; and at length 3000 copies of the entire New Testament were carried through the 
press, under the care of the Kasan Bible Society. 

Shortly after the completion of this version, a statement was drawn up by various parish ministers 
respecting the number of heathen who had been led to embrace Christianity from among the Tschere- 
missians. One minister mentioned eleven, another thirty-eight, a third mentioned one hundred, and a 
fourth fifty-two instances of conversion, as having taken place in their respective parishes. And this, 
it was stated, was accomplished in some instances exclusively, and in others principally, by means of 
the perusal of the Tscheremissiin Gospels. 



MORDVINIAN, OR MORDUIN. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THIS VEESION, see Plate 9, page 356. 

This dialect of the Finnish is spoken on the banks of the Oka and the Volga, in the governments 
of Nijnii-Novgorod and Kasan. According to Tooke, members of this tribe are also to be met with 
in Orenburg. The number of individuals composing this horde is very uncertain : they profess Chris- 
tianity, but retain many heathenish practices. They were brought before the notice of the Russian 
Bible Society in 1817, and a translation of the New Testament was undertaken for their benefit. The 
Four Gospels left the press in 1821, and ultimately an edition of 3000 copies of the New Testament 
was printed under the superintendence of the Kasan Bible Society. 



332 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. TClass IV. 



ZIEI11, OR 8 I R E N I A N, 

FOR SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION, see Plate 7, page 338. 

There is some difference of opinion concerning the precise geographical limits of the Zirian dialect. 
It has been said to prevail in the governments of Perm, Tobolsk, and Archangel; but it is undoubtedly 
the predominant dialect of the district of Oustioug-veliki, in Vologda. The Zirinians were converted 
to Christianity in the fourteenth century, by the preaching of St. Etienne; and there are some reasons 
for supposing that the Scriptures and the church books were translated into the Zirian dialect about 
that period ; but not a single vestige of this translation at present remains. 

The only portion of the Scriptures now possessed by the Zirians, in their own dialect, consists of 
the Gospel of St. Matthew ; 1400 copies of which were printed for them by the Russian Bible Society 
in 1823. The translator's name was Scherzen. 



WOGULIAN. 

The Wogulians dwell in the governments of Perm and Tobolsk, in a district between the Tobol, the 
Beresov, the Obi, and the Uralian Mountains. The Protohiery (Primate) Teletzyn, in concert with 
the clergy of his diocese, undertook a translation of the Scriptures into Wogulian; and in 1820 the 
Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark were translated and ready for the press. The MS., was submitted 
to the Tobolsk Bible Committee, by whom it was forwarded to the Russian Bible Society, but it does 
not appear to have ever been printed ; so that the Wogulians are still unsupplied with any portion of 
the Scriptures in their own dialect. 



OSTIACAN, OR, OSTJAKIAN. 

This dialect prevails on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and on the banks of the Obi, Irtish, and 
Yenesei, from the city of Tomsk (lat. 58° north, long. 83° 20' east) to Obdorsk. It greatly resembles 
the Mordvinian, and is at the same time so similar to the Wogulian, that it is thought the members of 
the two tribes must be capable of holding intercourse together. The Ostiaks are accounted one of the 
most numerous tribes in Siberia. A translation of the Scriptures into their dialect was going forward 
in 1820, under the care and inspection of Werguno, the active and zealous protohiery or primate at 
Beresov, and the Gospel of St. Matthew, translated by a learned priest, was forwarded for publication 
to the Committee of the Russian Bible Society : but it does not appear to have been printed, and we 
do not hear of the translation of any other portion of the Testament. 



Class IV.] WOTAGIAN. 333 



WOTAGIAN, ORWOTJAKIAN. 

The Wotagians, or, as they are more commonly ealled, the Votiaks, or Wotjaks, are a numerous 
people in the governments of Viatka and Orenburg, and perhaps in that of Vologda; but they chiefly 
reside in districts on the banks of the Viatka, and between that river and the Upper Kama. 
Dr. Pinkerton estimates their number at 100,000 individuals: they all profess adherence to the Eussian 
Church, but many among them are still heathens. 

Lewandowski, a learned Votiak, well acquainted with his native dialect, was the first to undertake 
a translation of the Scriptures for his countrymen. In 1820 he sent a translation of the first ten 
chapters of St. Matthew to the Eussian Bible Society as a specimen, with an offer to prosecute the 
translation, if deemed desirable: the committee encouraged him to proceed, and directed him to submit 
his work to such clergymen as were acquainted with the dialect. 

The translation appears to have been continued under the care and inspection of the Committee 
of the Viatka Branch Bible Society; and the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark were completed 
during the year 1823. After this translation had been examined by various competent individuals, 
and subjected to minute and careful revision, the Bishop of Viatka and other clergy affixed their 
signatures to it, in testimony of its being perfectly intelligible to the tribe for whom it was designed. 
The other two Gospels were translated shortly afterwards, and an edition, intended to consist of 2000 
copies, was ordered by the Eussian Bible Society. The first pages of the Gospel of St. Matthew were 
printed during Advent; and as the first two chapters are publicly read in the Eussian Church on Christmas 
day, the committee forwarded the printed sheets to the clergy of twenty-seven Viatka parishes, with a 
request that they would read the translation to the people, and thus test its intelligibility. From the 
accounts subsequently given by the clergy, it appeared that their respective hearers were equally 
astonished and overjoyed on hearing the Gospel in their own dialect. In one parish many of the 
Votiaks declared that the version was perfectly intelligible to them, and that they only wished to hear 
more of it. The people of another parish requested, at the conclusion of the service, that the Gospel 
in their own language might be read over again to them, which was actually done more than once. 
On separating they were observed to be engaged in close conversation together on the subject of 
what they had heard, and many exclaimed, " Inmar badsim ! Inmar allam!" The Lord is a great 
God. 

This is one of the versions which was left in an unfinished state at the time of the suspension of 
the Eussian Bible Society. The printing, though commenced, does not appear to have been continued 
even to the completion of a single book. Thus, although a faithful and accredited version of the Four 
Gospels exists in their language, these people have remained to the present moment destitute of a single 
printed copy of any portion of the Scriptures in a dialect intelligible to them, 



CLASS IV.-DETACHED FAMILIES. 

C. TUNCUSIAN FAMILY. 



MANTCHOU. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THE MANTCHOU YEESIOIST, see Plate 8, page 331. 
I — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Mantchou, Mantcliew, or Mandjur language properly belongs to Mantchooria, an extensive region 
lying north of Corea and north-east of China Proper, and enclosing an area of 700,000 square miles, with 
an unknown amount of population. From the year 1644 to the present time (1860), China has been 
governed by a dynasty of Mantchou princes, and the Mantchou language has consequently been 
extended to China, while Mantchooria itself has become an integral part of the Chinese empire. All 
that portion of Mantchooria lying to the north of the river Amoor has within recent years (since 1847) 
been transferred to the sovereignty of Russia. But although the line of the Amoor now marks the 
frontier between the empires of China and Russia, tribes of Mantchops are still found to the northward 
of the river. 

The total number of Mantchoos in China barely amounts to a million and a half: yet, notwith- 
standing their numerical inferiority, and their unpopularity with the Chinese, the entire empire has for 
upwards of two centuries been subject to their sway; and it is said to be solely owing to their suspicious 
and unsocial habits that China has been during that lengthened period a sealed country to Europeans. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The elemental principles of the Mantchou, Mongolian, Tartar, and Finnish languages, may almost 
be said to be identical; but their genius and construction differ. In the simplicity of their structure, 
and in the total absence of all inflection, properly so called, they approach nearer to the monosyllabic 
type than any other class of languages. The relations of words in a sentence, in other languages 
denoted by inflection or by prefixes, are in these languages indicated by the juxtaposition of particles 
invariably placed after the noun or word to which they refer. A peculiar and very inharmonious 
stiffness of construction is the natural result of this arrangement. In Mantchou, especially, the collo- 
cation of words in sentences is restricted within very narrow and rigid rules; and as these rules are 
extremely arbitrary, a long Mantchou sentence is frequently utterly unintelligible until the last word 
is reached; so that in point of clearness of construction, even Chinese itself is sometimes superior to 
Mantchou. But that is owing chiefly to the peculiar mode of conjugation in Mantchou, which is to be 
considered more as a combination of uninflected participles, affected by certain particles, than as 
inflections of tenses and moods of verbs as we are accustomed to call them. So that the terms present, 
future, past, subjunctive, infinitive, etc., are used in Mantchou grammar more in a conventional than 
in an accurate manner. In consequence of these defects, the Mantchous have little poetry: their most 



Plato VIII. 
Page .334. 



SPECIMEN OF 
THE MANTCHOU VERSIO 

Consisting of ST JOHN, Chap. I. v.l to 7. 




SPECIMEN OF 
THE TSCHUWASCHIAN VERSION. 

from th* Edition printed at c ,*P«tersburgh, 1620. 

P. 351. Consisting of ST J H N. Chap. I. v. I to 6. 

i Maji^aHT> 6ovi3a cjMaxT> cyMarb, ma 

Topa 6a/i,bHii 6oji3 V a, cyinarb ma 6oa- 

2 3a Topa. Cnrra 6oji3a iyMK>pb/i,eHb 

5 Topa 6^,bHH. TTopb ,4a oM6a 60.13a, 

OH3bipi> #a HHMHHb SoJlMaHT*, MHHb 

4 6oji 3a. Ohtj JKHHHt 6oa3& 6opHa3b, 
6opHa3b ma 6oji3a cio^b CHHT>3aMa. 

5 Ciowb nuomtoMi) pa cio/i,iiiapamb, 

6 miomiOM-b ,4a OHa xon^aMaH-b. Bo./i3a 
chht, ToppaHTj HHbl IoaHHTb nmAbi. 

SPECIMEN OF THE GEORGIAN VERSION. 

(IN THE CIVIL CHARACTER) 
P. 353. from the EdWon printed at S* Petersburg!,, 1819. 

Consisting of ST J H N . Chap. I. v. I to 3. 

1 3<)rt , )2<]Wft0^lib OMCV unraMunJ^ 
»A uCy&jWJ ftlo OMM- ™d&on«UJ 

2 cvln* f)U<) ^W**- BO&Sfljmoo-TOAD qt>o<y»- 

3 00OU4 0r>A©«4 * M<v»-!2fl£WO , 2<| OOU CP.0& 

l4)or>p> rni nfldoA /v>i M-roooo <y>a o«jo- 

SPECIMEN OF THE GEORGIAN VERSION. 

(IN THE ECCLESIASTICAL CHARACTER) 
p. 353 from the Edition printed at Moscow, 1616. 

Consisting of ST J H N.Chac. I. v. I to 5. 

\u\iu\x ^W *fl{«J fl^kf? mi? ) S^ fli 

ij/mj hn^m^ \n^ & mitj tqui itvth- 

y tfni'ttinm'hfi flihiy tntifit} ® Hntfpq 3i*ih Sv/jifi 

yip»fi3fiij ' 8?*e mvfivxfa Thnhtt TjtJiJj*? "qiHinn j/i«jy 

$ ni\idft*t; ihn; uiSnfri th*i; *ttju}fiti % cFnli mtffit; 




Engraved for"THE BIBLE OF EVERY LAND"-. Samuel Bagster &-. Sons, Patomoster Row. London. 



Class IV.] MANTCHOU. 335 

eloquent and lofty compositions can never rise beyond a series of dry propositions, in which each word 
and particle has its own proper and unvarying place assigned by rule. At present, however, they 
have no national literature, all their books being translations from the Chinese. 

With respect to its vocabulary, the Mantchou language has been said to comprehend three classes 
of words. The first consists of those words which are common to the Mantchou and the Tungusians, 
and which are chieflv expressive of simple ideas and objects primarily necessary to existence: these 
constitute the basis of the language. Among these original words are found a great number of terms 
which bear remarkable affinity to Latin and Greek words. As, e.g., M. sengge, Lat. sanguis; M. a'isin, 
gold, Lat. ass, eisen; M. akha, Lat. aqua; M. aniya, Lat. annus; M. toma, Lat. tumulus; M. ilen- 
ggou, Lat. lingua, etc.; M. outtou-touttou, Gr. ovtw,tovtco, etc. The second class includes the words 
which may be traced in the Mongolian, and these are very numerous. The third class comprises terms 
which have been borrowed from the Chinese, but deprived of their monosyllabic form, and disguised 
by one or more unmeaning syllables arbitrarily appended to them. Besides the above, Mantchou 
possesses many words relative to the Buddhistic system, borrowed from the Tibetans and Hindoos. 
The alphabet is syllabic, and, like the Chinese, is written in vertical columns from the top to the 
bottom of the page. Unlike the Chinese, however, these columns proceed from left to right. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

An imperfect and very unfaithful translation of part of the Scriptures into Mantchou is said to 
have been executed by some Jesuit missionaries; and in 1818 an abortive attempt towards the pro- 
duction of a version was made under the sanction of the Governor of Irkutsk. The prosecution of this 
important work ultimately devolved upon Lipoffzoff, a learned member of the Russian Bible Society, 
who had resided fourteen years at Pekin, by appointment of the Russian government, with the 
particular view of studying the Chinese and Mantchou languages. The translation was carried on 
under the superintendence of Dr. Pinkerton; and in 1822 an edition of 550 copies of the Gospel 
according to St. Matthew was printed at St. Petersburg, from types furnished at the expense of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society. A few copies of this Gospel were despatched to various places, 
whence it was hoped they could be put into circulation; and Dr. Gutzlaff met with one of these 
copies during his first or second visit to China. The greater part of the remainder were destroyed in 
the awful flood which occurred in St. Petersburg in 1824. 

The translation of the entire Xew Testament was soon afterwards completed, and was pronounced 
to be clear, idiomatic, and faithful; but no further editions were issued till 1834, when public attention 
was suddenly drawn to the subject by a discovery of a MS. version of almost the whole of the Old 
Testament. Mr. Swan, of the London Missionary Society, found this MS. at St. Petersburg, whither 
it had been conveyed but a short time previously from Pekin. Mr. Swan was engaged to copy the 
whole MS., and his transcript, after undergoing a thorough revision, was forwarded to the Committee of 
the British and Foreign Bible Society. The version is considered very satisfactory, and it still awaits 
publication, for it was deemed desirable in the first place to complete the printing of the New Testament. 

At this period (1834), when the committee were deliberating as to the best methods of continuing 
the revision and publication of the Xew Testament, Mr. George Borrow of Norwich, who possessed 
some knowledge of Mantchou, offered to undertake the supervision of the work. As he was found 
to be peculiarly qualified for the task, he was sent to St. Petersburg, where great facilities exist for 
the acquisition of the Mantchou language. In concert with the translator, he devoted himself to the 
revision of the entire version. Permission was obtained to print the work at St. Petersburg; and in 
1835 an edition of 1000 copies of the New Testament left the press. This edition is beautifully printed, 
and in general free from typographical errors; but the rendering of the original is sometimes very 
arbitrary. The whole impression was forwarded to London, to remain under the custody of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society until an opening be made by Providence for the distribution and 
circulation of the copies. A few of these copies were distributed in 1843, by Mr. Lay, among the 



336 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

Tartars, and copies have subsequently been placed at the disposal of the missionaries engaged in China. 
It seems probable, indeed, that more extensive efforts in reference to the Mantchou version will ere long 
be made. It was determined by the Society to print, by way of experiment, a small edition of portions 
of the New Testament in Mantchou and Chinese, in parallel columns, and a fount of Mantchou type 
was forwarded to Shang-hae for the purpose. This, however, with others of the Society's stores, was 
destroyed by the disastrous fire which occurred in 1856. As there is reason to believe that the Scrip- 
tures printed in such a form would be highly useful, the work is now in progress; and St. Matthew 
and St. Mark in Mantchou and Chinese have already been published. " There are many Chinese and 
Tartars (writes Dr. Medhurst) partially acquainted with both languages, who would be very glad to 
obtain books printed in this manner, when otherwise they might not give attention to them." 



TUNGUSIAN PROPER. 

The Tungusians, or Tongooses, are a nomadic people, supposed to have originally inhabited the 
country called Daouria, on the borders of Mongolia and Mantchooria, towards the northern limits of 
Chinese dominion. But while their brethren, the Mantchoos, extended their conquests southward 
into China Proper, the Tongooses, with their flocks and herds, wandered towards the north ; and they 
are now to be found amidst the vast mountainous regions which extend from Lake Baikal to the Sea 
of Okhotsk, and likewise further to the northward, in the various countries situated on the Lena, 
Kolyma, and Tungooska rivers. In number they are supposed, according to the latest Russian autho- 
rities, to amount to about 52,500. They are filthy and degraded in their habits, and greatly inferior ill 
physical conformation, and in every other respect, to the Mantchoos. 

Some few among the Tungooses have been baptized, but they are in general grossly ignorant: 
their religion is a branch of Shamanism, and consists chiefly in the worship of fire, and in a superstitious 
reverence for amulets. Their language differs both in words and in pronunciation from the Mantchou; 
it is extremely rude and barbarous, and contains a considerable admixture of Mongolian words. 
Several efforts have been made, from time to time, for the spiritual enlightenment of this widely- 
dispersed people; but, owing to the numerous petty dialects into which their language is divided, the 
task of translating the Scriptures into a dialect generally intelligible to the whole nation is attended 
with peculiar difficulty. A version of the sacred volume has been commenced in the dialect of the 
Tschapogires, a Tungusian tribe dwelling along the course of the Toungo-unski, a branch of the 
Yenesei. In the Beport of the Russian Committee, laid before the annual meeting of the Bible 
Society at St. Petersburg, 1819, this version w r as mentioned as one of the ''new translations" then in 
progress. No further intelligence on this subject has been since received; and it appears but too 
probable that, from some cause or other, the Tschapogirian translation has been altogether relinquished. 



Plate XI. 
Page 337 



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CLASS IT-DETACHED FAMILIES. 

D. MONGOLIAN FAMILY. 



MONGOLIAN PROPER. 

FOR SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION, see Plate 11, page 337. 

MONGOLIA, the vast country which separates Russia from China, has been from time immemorial the 
domain of the Mongolian race. It was to this race that Attila and Genghis Khan, and the myriads 
commanded by those mighty warriors, belonged, — men whose rapid conquests are compared by Gibbon 
to the primitive convulsions of nature which have agitated and altered the surface of the globe. 
Although Mongolia is now included in the territories of the Chinese empire, the Mongols themselves 
remain in the same condition as their ancestors in the days of Genghis and Kublai. " The people," 
says a recent traveller, " live in tents, without any permanent residence. They move from place to 
place with the changes of the seasons, or when their immense herds of oxen, camels, and horses have 
exhausted the grass around their encampment. To-day presents an animated scene of hundreds of 
tents, filled with an active population; to-morrow this picturesque scene will be changed to a dreary 
and forbidding desert." 

The Mongols have extended their wanderings into the dominions of Russia, and some of 
the many tribes into which they are divided are to be found in the very heart of Siberia. One 
language is common to all these tribes, but, as might be expected from its wide geographical diffusion, it 
is subdivided into a multiplicity of petty dialects. The most prominent characteristics of the Mantchou 
and Turkish are equally remarkable in this language. It possesses the same inverted and artificial style 
of phraseology, and the same grammatical peculiarities. The substantives, however, although like the 
Mantchou destitute of terminations indicative of gender, possess a peculiar sign to denote the plural; 
it consists in the consonant t added to the final vowel, or substituted for n, but is not often employed. 
The Mongolian dialect, properly so called, is spoken by some tribes of Lamaists (or worshippers of 
Buddha, impersonated in the Grand Lama), north of the desert of Gobi. The alphabet is derived from 
the Ouigour, and forms the basis of the Mantchou ; it is written in vertical columns from the top to the 
bottom of the page. Many Tibetan and Sanscrit words exist in Mongolian, which have been introduced 
with Lamaism from Tibet. 

A translation of the New Testament and Psalter into the language spoken by the Mongol con- 
querors of China is said to have been made, in the thirteenth century, by John de Monte-Corvino, a 
Minorite friar, who was sent on a mission to the Tartar potentates, by Pope Nicholas IV., in 1289, 
(soon after the accession of Timur Khan, or Cliing-tsung , to the throne of his grandfather, Kublai Khan), 
and who resided at the court of the Grand Khan for a period of forty years. Of this work no vestiges 
remain. The only Mongolian versions of Scripture known to be in existence are those in the Calmuc 
and Buriat dialects, which we must now proceed to notice. 



23 



338 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 



C ALMUC. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION, see Plate 7, page 338. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The great steppe extending from Sarepta (on the Volga, above Astrakhan) to the Caucasus, is occupied 
by the Calmucs, a Mongolian tribe, who migrated thither about the beginning of the seventeenth 
century, from the western borders of Soungaria, in the heart of the Asiatic continent. In 1701, 
upwards of 15,000 families of this tribe returned to Soungaria with a certain prince who fled from his 
father, the khan; and in 1770 no less than 60,000 families abandoned their Eussian settlements and 
returned to their native Mongolia. The families who remained in Russia, and who retain their 
nomadic habits and pagan superstitions, now number about 60,000 individuals. Some baptized 
members of this nation are settled in a district lying between the Volga and the Kouban, of which 
Stavropol is the capital; they amount in number to about 10,000, and have for the last century 
professed adherence to the Eussian Church. 

The dialect of the Calmucs is the Eleuth, or Western Mongolian, generally supposed to be 
predominant throughout the whole of Western Mongolia as the dialect of the Eleuth tribes, from 
whom the Calmucs derive their origin. This dialect is softer and more effeminate than Mongolian 
proper, and in order to express it, the Calmucs have adopted a modified alphabet of the Mongolian, 
which contains softer sounds than the original one. It is also more elegant; although it must be said 
of all these vertical writings that they look very beautiful when well executed. The importance of the 
Calmuc version will be greatly enhanced should it be found applicable to all the Eleuth tribes of 
Mongolia, as well as to the Russian emigrants; but this point has not yet been ascertained. 

II. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The first translation of the Scriptures into this dialect appears to have been attempted about the 
middle of the last century, when various detached portions of the sacred text were translated at the 
Moravian settlement of Sarepta. The principal translator was Conrad Neitz, one of the Moravian 
missionaries, who, by a long residence among the Calmucs of the Don, had acquired an intimate 
acquaintance with the language, the modes of thinking, and the habits of the people. In 1808, a 
correspondence was opened between the brethren at Sarepta and the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
respecting the preparation of a Calmuc version. The portions previously translated were ascertained 
to be faithful and accurate, but it was deemed requisite to subject them to careful revision, as well as 
to extend the translation to the whole of the New Testament. The execution of this translation was 
undertaken by Mr. James Schmidt (afterwards Dr. Schmidt), a member of the Sarepta society. He 
had resided many years among the Calmucs, and was thoroughly acquainted with their dialect. The 
work was aided by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the translation of the Gospel of 
St. Matthew was completed in 1812; it was not however committed to the press till 1815, when 
1000 copies were printed at St. Petersburg. These were speedily circulated; and such were the 
pleasing accounts received concerning their distribution, that a second edition of 2000 copies was 
given in 1817. 

The idiomatic accuracy of this version of St. Matthew was attested by native authorities, and 
likewise by Abel Eemusat. " In reading, or rather in analysing it (observed that eminent Orientalist), 
with a view to deduce the grammatical principles which were the objects of my search, I found but 
very few instances in which its correspondence with the Greek text did not appear to me to be rigidly 
exact." That this Gospel was perfectly intelligible to the people for whom it was designed is proved 



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Class IV.] BURIAT. 339 

by the fact that the Lamaic priests found it necessary to interdict it, apprehending that their craft 
would be in danger, in case the doctrines gained ground among their followers. Notwithstanding this 
prohibition, copies were eagerly sought by the Calmucs; and it was found necessary to issue a third 
edition in a smaller form, that the volumes might be more easily concealed among the stuff of 
their tents. 

Some pecuniary aid was received by Dr. Schmidt, the translator, from the emperor of Kussia; 
and in 1820 the Gospel of St. John was completed and laid before the Russian Committee. The 
eagerness of the people to know what this Gospel contained was so great, that before it could be 
carried through the press, it was sent in MS. for their perusal. An edition of 500 copies was printed 
of this Gospel alone, besides 2000 copies containing the Gospels both of St. Matthew and St. John. 
In 1822, an edition of the Gospels and the Acts was put to press at St. Petersburg. In a letter 
bearing the same date, it was stated by Dr. Pinkerton that twenty-two individuals had forsaken their 
idols, and had joined the Sarepta congregation on the Volga; and at that period there appeared every 
reason to hope that a still richer harvest would speedily ensue from the seed of the Divine Word 
diffused among the Calmucs. Concerning the effects which may have been more recently produced by 
their perusal of the New Testament in their own dialect, we have no means of obtaining intelligence, 
for the labours of missionaries among this people are now wholly suppressed. 



BURIAT. 

F OB SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION, see Plate 7, page 338. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Buriat Mongolians now dwell near Lake Baikal, in Siberia, where they probably settled at the 
period of the revolution under Genghis Khan. They form the principal part of the population in the 
government of Irkutsk, north of the Baikal, and of the provinces of Selinginsk, Oudinsk, and Nerchinsk, 
eastward of that lake: they are thought to number about 150.000 individuals. The dialect of the 
Buriats is the same as that of the Khalka tribes of Eastern Mongolia. It differs from the Calmuc chiefly 
in the interchange of consonants, and is distinguished by its abundance of guttural and nasal sounds. 
The Buriats also differ from other Mongolians in employing the alphabet of their Mantchou neighbours, 
instead of the true Mongolian letters. 

II. — VERSION or THE scriptures in this dialect. 

When a translation of the New Testament into Calmuc was projected, it was anticipated that it 
would be found as intelligible to the Buriats of Siberia and to the other Mongolian tribes, as to the 
Calmucs themselves; and, under this impression, the Buriats contributed towards defraying the expenses 
of the version. When, however, the Gospel of St. Matthew in Calmuc was completed, it was found that 
the Buriats were unable to read it; and though they afterwards endeavoured to obtain the key to the 
Calmuc writing by acquainting themselves with the Mongolian letters, yet it soon became obvious that 
the differences between the two dialects rendered the preparation of a distinct version for each people 
absolutely essential. To remove every difficulty, Prince Galitzin, president of the Russian Bible 
Society, wrote to the Governor of Irkutsk, requesting him to send two learned Buriats to St. Peters- 
burg, for the purpose of accommodating the Calmuc Gospel to their native dialect, and, in conjunction 
with Dr. Schmidt, to translate the other parts of the New Testament. Two saisangs, or Buriat nobles, 



340 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

accordingly repaired to St. Petersburg, and with the consent of their prince and lama, they engaged in 
the work of translation : the Divine Word was blessed to their conversion ; and, in a letter which they 
addressed to their chief, they avowed their faith in Jesus. In 1818, an edition of 2000 copies of the 
Gospel of St. Matthew, in Buriat, was printed under their care, followed, in 1819, by 2000 copies of 
the two Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John. An edition of 2000 copies of the other two Gospels, 
with 2539 copies of the Acts, was published in 1822. During the same year owever, a severe loss 
was sustained in the death of Badma, one of the Buriat translators, who was called to rest from his 
labours just as he had translated as far as the middle of the Epistle to the Romans. The remaining 
portion of the New Testament appears to have been completed under the superintendence ot Dr. 
Schmidt, and was published about the year 1824, at St. Petersburg. 

The surviving Buriat noble was afterwards associated with Messrs. Swan, Stallybrass, and Yuille, 
missionaries at Selinginsk, in the translation of the Old and the revision of the New Testament. The 
Old Testament was translated immediately from the Hebrew, with constant reference to such critical 
apparatus as could be obtained, and every portion was successively submitted to the inspection of 
learned natives, chiefly lamas or priests, in order that the idiomatic peculiarities of the language might 
be observed. The style of writing adopted in this version holds a middle place between the vulgar 
colloquial language of the people, which varies in different districts, and the abstruse modes of 
expression employed in some of their books. It is above the common business dialect, but not so much 
higher as to place the subject beyond the reach of any one of common understanding. In 1834, the 
expenses incurred in this translation were defrayed by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and an 
edition of 1000 copies was undertaken by the same Society. This edition was subsequently extended 
to 2000 copies, in consequence of a grant from the American Bible Society. The printing was carried 
on at Khodon in Siberia, and portions were put into circulation almost as soon as they left t e press. 
This edition of the Old Testament was completed in 1840; and during the same year Messrs. Swan 
and Stallybrass accomplished a fresh translation of the New Testament from the original Greek, based 
on the version previously made. An edition of 3000 copies of this New Testament was completed at 
press in 1846, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 

III. — RESULTS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THIS VERSION. 

It has already been mentioned that the "beautiful sayings of Jesus," as they called them, pro- 
duced an almost immediate effect on the two idolaters employed in translating the New Testament. 
The portions they translated were blessed in a similar manner to some of their countrymen. One of 
the natives, after reading with devout attention the Gospel of St. John, emphatically exclaimed, "This 
is the soap which must cleanse us from the defilement of the old system of religion :" and this version 
has been made useful even in China, for many of the Chinese are acquainted with the language, and 
the missionaries were repeatedly informed of copies having been eagerly sought by natives of that 
benighted empire. Among the Buriats themselves there appeared, till recently, every reason to look 
for the happiest results from the distribution of their vernacular Scriptures; a spirit of enquiry was 
awakened, and, in a seminary established at Khodon, several of the young people had given evidence 
of being truly converted to God. Since the year 1841, the mission has been relinquished, and oppor- 
tunities no longer exist for the circulation of this version. 



CLASS IY.-DETACHED FAMILIES. 

E. TURKISH FAMILY. 



TURKISH. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 11. 



• * «*» - 



i*X^\ ojljuu! jJ 2 lJ&)\ flK <*1H j t^fSj}, eJOJ'li C)^! flK j i>Jo! jjj f\K «j1juu! 

u yf\ C^jt^i _jj 7 ^Joj Us-jj ^JT Ciil <£ grjol j\j ,*JT ^j (^UjJo/ tl)4 X v JJ\ 6 lJ^j) 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Turkish language in its numerous dialectic varieties is more or less diffused through the vast 
regions which extend from the Mediterranean to the frontiers of China, and from the shores of the 
Frozen Ocean to Hindoostan. The nations to whom this language is vernacular have acted an 
important part in history; and though their power has now declined, and the Crescent has fallen like 
a star from heaven, yet a member of this race still occupies the throne of Constantine. The peculiar 
dialect of this language, to which the name of Turkish is generally, by way of pre-eminence, applied, 
is spoken in European Turkey by the Ottoman or Osmanlee Turks, the number of whom is variously 
estimated, by recent authorities, at between 800,000 and 1,100,000 individuals. 

There exists, however, great discrepancy in the estimates formed of the population of the Turkish 
empire, and the population of European Turkey alone has been variously calculated at upwards of 
15,000,000, or reduced to a total of only 8,500,000. The latter number is probably below the truth. 
More than three-fourths of the whole are members of the Greek Church. Wallachian, Albanian, 



342 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass IV. 

Sclavonic dialects, and other tongues, prevail among the different sections of this population, yet 
Turkish is the only language which can be employed as a general medium of communication with all 
the various kindreds of people inhabiting European and Asiatic Turkey. But the use of this language 
extends beyond the present confines of the Turkish empire, and in point of practical utility it ranks 
among the foremost of languages; in fact, if we are to receive the statement of Sir William Jones, 
" there is scarce a country in Asia cr in Africa, from the source of the Nile to the wall of China, in 
which a man who understands Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, may not travel with satisfaction, and 
transact the most important affairs with advantage and security; nay, we may say with equal truth, 
that the Turkish language, in one or other of its dialects, is understood and spoken from the south of 
Europe, to the frozen shores of Kamschatka." 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Turkish language, like the race by whom it is spoken, affords a curious instance of the inter- 
mixture of the Asiatic and European type. The condition of this language in the primitive stages of 
its history is still exhibited by the Turkish dialects of the East, which have remained to the present 
day comparatively uncorrupted or unembellished by words of foreign origin ; and it is in these dialects 
that the links connecting this tongue with those of the Mantchoos and the Mongols are to be sought. 
The analogy which pervades this class of languages has been elsewhere remarked : it is most observable 
in the pronunciation of the guttural and nasal consonants, in the orthographical regulations collectively 
designated the " quadruple harmony of vowels," and in the euphonic law requiring certain consonants 
to be only associated with certain vowels. 

The Turkish of Constantinople deviates in many important points from its cognate dialects. 
Its structure has in some degree been altered by joint influences from the East and West. Its nouns, 
like the Latin, have six cases; it possesses complex derivative conjunctions; and with respect to its 
vocabulary, it has amassed Persian, Arabic, and even Chinese words from the East, and Albanian, 
Greek, and Italian elements from the West. Yet, although so many heterogeneous principles enter 
into its composition, the Turkish language is replete with grace and beauty. " Kich, dignified, and 
melodious, in delicacy and nicety of expression it is not, perhaps, surpassed by any language; and in 
grandeur, beauty, and elegance, it is almost unequalled." The perfection of its mechanism, with respect 
to verbs, has been often noticed; the addition of a single letter or syllable renders a verb passive, 
negative, impossible, causal, or reciprocal, according to the will of the speaker, thus frequently convey- 
ing the sense of an entire phrase in a single word. Notwithstanding its multiplicity of grammatical 
forms, however, this language has not yet shaken off the yoke originally impressed on it in common 
with most of the tongues of High Asia; it is still remarkable for its stiffness of construction, and for 
what we call artificial disposition of words in composition. The extensive employment of gerunds 
and participles, to the almost total exclusion of conjunctions, and the grammatical law requiring words 
governed to precede the governing, combine with other causes in producing long, involved periods, in 
which the sense is not ascertained till towards the close, and in which the words are ranged in an order 
directly contrary to what appears to us the natural sequence of ideas. 

The most ancient Turkish alphabet is the Ouigour, from which the Mongolian is derived; but the 
modern Turks use the Arabic and Persian characters. Their present alphabet consists of thirty-three 
letters, twenty-eight of which are Arabic, four are Persian, and one is peculiar to the Turkish. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

Two versions of the Scriptures in kindred dialects of the Turkish language appear to have been 
completed about the same period. One of these versions, executed by Seaman, and printed in England, 
1666, will hereafter be noticed. The other, comprising both the Old and New Testaments, was the 
work of Ali Bey, whose history is rather remarkable. His original name was Albertus Bobowsky, or 
Bobovius; he was born in Poland, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and while a youth was 



Class IV.] TURKISH. 343 

stolen by the Tartars, and sold as a slave in Constantinople. After twenty years spent in the seraglio, 
he publicly embraced the Mohammedan religion, at the same time assuming the name of Ali Bey; 
and he then became first dragoman or translator to Mahomet IV. He was noted for great erudition, 
and was said to be thoroughly conversant with seventeen languages; and to his instructions the 
lexicographer Meninsky owed much of his celebrity. 

At the suggestion and under the direction of the famous Levin Warner, who was then at Con- 

no 7 

stantinople as Dutch ambassador, Ali Bey was induced to translate the Catechism of the Church of 
England into Turkish ; and this undertaking probably paved the way to the execution of his great 
work, the translation of the entire Scriptures into Turkish. It is not known with certainty whether 
he drew his text immediately from the inspired originals, yet the translation is considered on the whole 
to be faithful and accurate. The study of the sacred volume was not without effect on the translator; 
for it is recorded that Ali Bey entertained thoughts of returning to the Christian Church, and was 
only prevented by death from accomplishing his design. When his version was corrected and ready 
for the press, it was sent by Warner to Leyden to be printed. It was deposited in the archives of the 
university of that city, among a valuable collection of Oriental MSS., and there it was suffered to 
remain for a century and a half; no effort whatever was made during all that period to print it, with 
the sole exception of a small edition of the first four chapters of Genesis, published by Schroeder of 
Marburg at Leipsic in 1739, with a Latin translation and notes. 

Baron Von Diez, formerly Russian ambassador at Constantinople, who was intimately conversant 
with the Turkish language, was among the first to draw the attention of Europe to this long-neglected 
translation. He offered his services in editing the MS. to the Committee of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society; and meeting with great encouragement to prosecute his design, the venerable senator 
immediately addressed himself to the revision of the Old Testament. He died, however, when he had 
completed but four books of the Pentateuch, and the work of revision was transferred by the Society 
to Kieffer, professor of the Turkish language at the University of Paris, and interpreting secretary to the 
king of France. The new editor disapproved of the plan pursued by his predecessor, particularly of his 
insertion of vowel points, and he therefore commenced the work anew. He applied himself, however, in 
the first instance to the New Testament; but, unfortunately, misunderstanding the directions of the 
Committee, he followed the text of the MS. implicitly, without collating it with the original Greek. 
Several errors in the text were thus inserted in the printed copies ; but it was not long before they were 
detected, and the discovery gave rise to a printed controversy. It was a happy circumstance that 
scarcely a hundred copies had been issued when notice of these inaccuracies was received. The circu- 
lation was immediately suspended ; the errors, forty -nine in number, were examined and corrected by a 
sub-committee appointed expressly for the purpose, and Professor Kieffer commenced a laborious and 
elaborate revision of the text. He collated every portion, not only with the original, but with the 
English, German, and French versions, with the Tartar version of Seaman, and of the Scotch mis- 
sionaries of Karass, with the versions of Erpenius and of Martyn, and with those in the London 
Polyglot. This revision was carried on from 1820 (at which period the errors were first detected) to 
1828, when the entire Turkish Bible, with the embodied corrections, was completed at press, and 
obtained the attestation of the most eminent Orientalists in Europe as to its rigid accuracy and fidelity. 
The edition consisted of 5000 copies in 4to. ; and the proofs, as they issued from the press, were read 
by Dr. Henderson, who was the first to detect the former errors. The work was printed at Paris, and 
the original MS. was afterwards returned to Leyden. An edition of the Turkish New Testament, 
carefully revised by Mr. Turabi, under Dr. Henderson's superintendence, was completed by the Society 
in 1853. A subsequent edition, printed in 1857, has undergone the careful revision of J. W. Redhouse, 
Esq., the corrected renderings having been submitted to the examination of the Rev. Drs. Schauffier 
and Goodell. In addition to the 5000 copies of the entire Bible above mentioned, 14,050 Testaments, 
and 14,130 copies of portions of the Old and New Testaments, had been printed (up to the close of 
1859) by the British and Foreign Bible Society. 



344 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

Fanaticism, bigotry, and intolerance have been in all ages the characteristics of the followers of 
the false prophet, and the dissemination of the Scriptures among them has ever been attended with 
peculiar difficulty. It has been justly remarked, that "one of the chief obstacles to the reception of 
Christianity by the Turks, has always been the unhappy representation of true religion set before 
them by the Greek and Roman Catholic Churches. Seeing the idolatry and evil lives of those who 
are called Christians, the Turks do not care to inquire into the religion which, as they suppose, 
produces such fruits." 

Great changes have, however, occurred within recent years, as concerns the position of Christianity 
in the empire of Turkey, and a brighter picture than that above drawn is now happily exhibited. 
The principle of complete religious toleration has been recognised by the reigning Sultan, and, not- 
withstanding much opposition, the Turkish government has, in the main, acted upon this principle. 
Among the most gratifying circumstances of recent years may be reckoned the formation at Constan- 
tinople, in 1853, of an Auxiliary to the British and Foreign Bible Society, upon occasion of the 
Society's Jubilee in that year. Constantinople has since become an important and active centre of 
missionary operations. The existence of the Society's Agency in that city is fully recognised and 
allowed by the Turkish government, and in 1856 a copy of the Bible, in the Turkish language, was 
(through the medium of the British ambassador) presented to, and graciously received by the Sultan — 
the head of the Mohammedan faith ! A fact truly indicative of the altered relations which now 
subsist in the centre of Islam, between Christian and Mohammedan, as compared with those of 
former days ! 

It is not, indeed, too much to say that an important religious movement has commenced in 
Turkey, amongst the Turks themselves, and a vastly-increased demand for the Turkish version of 
the Scriptures has been the natural result. " When (says the Eeport of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society for 1856) it is recollected that until within the last eighteen months, it has been all but 
impossible to prevail upon the Turks to accept the Scriptures as a free gift, it will be deemed a fact of 
weighty and joyous significance, that during the year 1855, 1278 copies of the Turkish Scriptures 
were disseminated, principally by sale." It was amongst the Turks at Constantinople, Smyrna, and 
elsewhere in Asia Minor, that this circulation took place. Subsequent years exhibit a continuance of 
the demand. 

Recent reports of the Society supply numerous instances of the blessed results which have ensued, 
in individual cases, from the increased facility now afforded for the acquisition by the Turks of the 
revealed Word of God in their own tongue. Such examples are justly regarded as of no ordinary 
importance. " They afford (again to quote the Society's Report) conclusive evidence that the Turkish 
mind is opening to the light and influence of Christian truth, — that the spell of fanatical bigotry is 
dissolving, and that the day is not far distant when the revealed Scriptures shall have free course 
in Turkey." The evidence of a Christian is now, for the first time, placed on the same level as that 
of a Mussulman, and every inhabitant of the Sultan's dominions is free to renounce homage to the 
Koran for belief in the Bible, without incurring any penalty or forfeiture of legal rights. 



Class IV.] TURCO-GREEK. 345 



TURCO-GREEK AND TURKISH-ARMENIAN. 

SPECIMEN, FROM ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

I7mda.dE KsXafi flap idl, j3s KsXdfi 'AXXaylv Karivdd idl' j3e KsXd/i 'AWax 
idi. * OX ifi-Tidads ^AXXa^lv Karivdd idi. 3 Xep iiiyi avivXe yiapadiXdi' j3s %irC, 
inp fiaxXovK avail, %aXic oXovvpadi. 4 'Ofiovp dvlv ir^ivdl idl, x^ 'o/xovp dSsfx- 
Xspiv vovpi idi. s Novp day\ KapavXiicde £iyia syiXsp, KapavXlic ivs avl idpaic 
iTfiedi. AXXa^dlv ipcrdX oXovv/xovg Trip ads/i flap idi ki, dvlv ddl ^Iwdvvr]Q Id'i. 

Hov (Tanadar ^ep/xsys yiceXdi, to. ki vovpddv 'orovpov Ha^ader fiep£, ki ^imai 
dviv getvetcI iXe ifxdv yKETipsXep. ] "0 KEvdoval vovp dsylX idl, tfifia rd ki vovpdlv 

orovpov aaxadET fdspL ' ' O vovp x<zkk idi ki, ttov dovvyiayid yKsXsv x^p ddsfil 
vovpXavdipip. 10 Aovvyiad'l idi, /3e dovvyid avivXe yiamXjiiadip, (3s dovvyid avl 
rriXfisdi. c O KsvdovpivKiXepe yKsXdi, j3g KSvdovvivKiXepl avl KarrovX 'irfiediXep. 
EjXLia AXXa%iv oXovXXapi oXovv/iayd Kovdpsrivl dvXeplv ftovfiXeaive flepdl ki, 
avi KaicovX idovir ia/iivs ifidv yKerovpsXep' 13 Kl dvXsp {3e ve KavSkv j3s ve vs.<pg 
dp&vcrivdEV, (3e ve iplv ifsxfisTivdev, *XXa 'AXXaxddv cioyfiovaXdpdip. " Be 
KsXap, r^sasd oXdov, ^eytt Xovr(j> j3s x aKr i KaT ^ v doXov t'/ceV dpa\iiC,dd fiEKidv rovrdov, 
(/3e nit, aviv T^sXaXivl yKiopdovK Tra-kaddv doyfiovg itipif^iK byovXovv T^sXaXl 

yKlTTl.) 



These are, properly speaking, Turkish versions, but printed in Greek and Armenian letters, and 
accommodated to the dialectic peculiarities which prevail among the Christians of Asia Minor. In 1782, 
the Psalms, translated into Turkish by Seraphim, metropolitan of Karamania, were printed in Greek 
letters; and in 1810 a Turkish version of the Acts and Epistles was printed in the same character 
at Venice. 

In consequence of inquiries instituted in 1818, by Dr. Pinkerton, respecting the state of the 
Christian inhabitants of the ancient Lydia, Caria, Lycia, Phrygia, Pisidia, Cilicia, and Lycaonia, it was 
ascertained that these poor ignorant and oppressed people are all Greeks or Armenians, acquainted 
with no language but that of their Turkish masters. As they are unable to read or write except in 
their native characters, the Turkish Bible, from being printed in Turkish letters, is unintelligible to 
them; and thus the very country in which the glad tidings of great joy were first proclaimed by the 
Apostles, was virtually destitute of the Scriptures, until editions adapted to the requirements of the 
inhabitants were issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Society's first edition of the 
Turkish Testament, in Greek letters, consisting of 3000 copies, was printed in 1826; and further 
supplies, consisting of 1000 copies of the Acts and Epistles, 3000 copies of the Psalter, and 1000 copies 
of the books of Job, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes, were shortly afterwards granted. Mr. Leeves, agent of 
the Society, subsequently undertook the preparation of a new and revised version, with the view 
of rendering the style still more conformable to the provincial mode of speaking Turkish which prevails 
among the Greek Christians of Asia Minor. In this work he was assisted by a native, a young man 
from Philadelphia, by name Christo Nicolaides, who joined Mr. Leeves, at Corfu, in 1832, and from 



346 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

that period to 1839 was uninterruptedly employed in the undertaking. The printing was commenced 
at Syra, and afterwards transferred to Athens. Subsequent editions have been undertaken by the 
Society, and the total issues up to the end of 1858 comprehend 5000 Bibles, and 6000 New Testa- 
ments, besides 7000 copies of particular portions of the Old and New Testaments. 

SPECIMEN OF THE TURKISH-ARMENIAN VERSION. 
FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 
bWhSUSl? f"»f> ^hr^'T, i± ^hufT H/Jj»<>p]> q-cFfiwu, b<»b , ±k 

^Y+fc-iUtiT U,/Zi"> b ut b * ^\nu [teiffcf-liuiiuinl? WfLSfyplt R-P (3-ptiutug b ul b * ^£~P 

yji'J olitiL.lt bl]» Of*" tit- * if £■ ^bs "ibp o/i/^»j> p I? I oltunup_ oiJuiwp * yjltmut 

^uttutfc}- tlutp b tn b * *l fc" ^utjutP- ut en £- Jt '£- p b^t p t p n p b*"b * 4^,4" P $ P t- ruutputlt^ 

I pa-iniu ahjut d l^pbp b"*b * 't k" tj-iuputlts ptf- oltnu utltfi j <ut Jut m p t \j^ i f_ut < Ztniuli 

t^^roltin^-pbli^'y "if'P Utm^-iP Ofinnu t nb oltnult utwp_ %y&n/^utltlt£-u [imfi t ™\nu 

} £-yutwfc-[cf~fc' bfcfjfb t Jib P f p tf-ututft l^-oP-b'-pb 1 - ? £~ > utuifc-fp- t^int? ♦ fp-ut j>b oltnu.lt 

dutubfp'utub bf kr y'» t £'b u b b^" uuut i LU p * \Jt f <* f.t - ^k^ tn b u b tn \jbs b in b t /"tpb^' 
p_2jl_q-""**» h-op-bi-pbt- £k"<£uiinZrP- kp-Jkg b^b L -' u {cL***^ * H^Pi^-P lL$JLt ° f""F 

ob inbuilt* 1 "! 1 " bk~lk^* y£~P UfintfJh pfprt-.<inltmpppp * J)^i_?»4-iz#i/i«# b tsl b t V£" 

inbt-uhut oltnL.lt duiublp~utup bf%T oitnnu ♦ luJlftn mbulihuj oltnu tifbf"lr u 'b * nr^^"w 

Itmbltb^ifibi^'pi' l \h'l^'bt 'iff Jlf uu 'b^'b^ipbf£ r P oltnL. LUUtufnui l^f<£ Jt^wbllfp * |^t/2/2t# 

j'b'Titrp .P.b oltnu tLUttunuf fc-fif-wblfrp b u k" t oltiutput oltnu.lt turn pit ui f^tutltutuiutpui 
tf-nuinpt?(3- ill^-pinb $ Jib WfLVyPp l?d l_utiniutpp oiutiutp ♦ \jltiutp j>b tuutltmutlt 

utfc-jbf t[k- (3-1^1* bp u " n tz'P~b' uin k'^' '"b'jbi ^4"*^* utm^-tP bpw in k'P~b' uu 'krl* u, h:jb L \_ bi/jf 

XJ^jlju^ intuit moninnuiutp t ^»4" K ^*£r/utu r 'fcf-£rli oitnnu t til? tnu(3-3t ^l^iP tf^pf^, 

>»flhp. bib" tnotnu o/uipiuq- tubqvil? uiugb" Qltnnu. f J l? oltnult Xy/u// fi"b *\*k' ut k'~ 
pinfc-1* uioijt/huy "fbpb&kf! \J r i" L -t %g"/"*/ b fybt/b l \'l» P ut b L -4l * 

The Armenians are even more numerous in Asia Minor than the Greeks. A Turkish version in 
their peculiar dialect, and written in their characters, was commenced in 1815 by an Armenian 
archimandrite, named Seraphim, in concert with another Armenian. An edition of 5000 copies of 
the Testament was printed at St. Petersburg in 1819: and Mr. Leeves devoted much time and trouble 
to the preparation of a revised edition. The work was afterwards taken up by the missionaries of the 
American Board of Missions. In 1841, Mr. Goodell stated that his strength and time had been for 
several years employed in preparing a translation directly from the original texts. In 1843, the 
entire Scriptures were completed at press at the expense of the American Society. Subsequent editions 
of the Armeno-Turkish Scriptures have been printed at the American Mission-press, on behalf of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society. Editions consisting of 2000 New Testaments in 16mo., and the 
same number in 32mo., were completed in 1858, and an edition of 3000 Bibles is now in progress. 
The entire number of copies printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, up to the 
end of 1859, amounts to 5012 Bibles and 16,287 Testaments. 



Class IV.J 



KARASS. 



347 



KARASS, OH TUKKISH-TARTAR. 

SPECIMENS, PROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. t. v, 1 to 14. 



Seaman's Version, 1666. 
iW\ j ^Jul *j^i c ^-» j c r^ U) u^ * ^.^ 



jliXcl <d^^j! <^W: b' XJj dJjl^i ^3 Jj! i£=> 
Jjdlc #jJl)1 j^l* L 5^ 1 ^' U^= ^.^^j^ (^ =s 

<tl]l ^Ju jJjI <uj! idjJjJ Ja3 ^TjjJLi Ul 
^ J us^ Jj^ *^ J ls^ tWs T cr^ J " 



*M 



<J^J 



J J (o^lj'i (^.i^w-^cjb 



Bkunton's Veesion, 1813. 

j ^**Jl j es^j- '^i-*^ *y v.e-' Ah? 3 * * °^ 

^ ^ LjA^/ u^^' r jl ^ 6 * ^^^ 

^jJuo*o <iL^i uj^sajj t—C^jj CJjl^i ^y ^5^^= 
jji ^^1 ^Jol j£=J jy y, 8 *^i JL3 Uo \ Aas>- 

* <ti«3j! L£^^^ LSJT 1 ^ L5^J ^^ lA'^ *^i^ 



The version of the Scriptures generally denominated the Karass, is so called because a town of that 
name, on the borders of the Caspian, was the place of its publication. It has also been improperly 
termed the Nogay version, on account of its having been found intelligible to the Nogais, a tribe of 
Tartars dwelling on the banks of the Kouban and Kouma, in the steppes to the northward of Mount 
Caucasus. A more correct designation for this version is that of Turkish-Tartar, because it consists 



348 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

principally of words that belong in common to the Turks and Tartars. It exhibits the Turkish lan- 
guage in a comparatively pure state, divested of the circumlocutory forms and foreign words adopted 
by the Turks of Constantinople, and restored to its pristine simplicity. So far from being written in 
the colloquial dialect of any particular district, this version corresponds in style and language with such 
books as are circulated among the Tartars in the south of Eussia, and is therefore intelligible to all 
the different Tartar hordes scattered through that extensive region. 

The first version of the Scriptures written in this plain, unadorned Turkish style, was that pub- 
lished at Oxford in 1666, at the joint expense of the philosopher Boyle and of the Levant Company. 
The translator was Mr. William Seaman, a moderate non-conformist, who had formerly been chaplain 
to an English ambassador at the Porte. This version was not free from faults, and it partook too 
much of the Constantinopolitan idiom to be readily understood by the Tartars. It served, however, 
as the basis of a translation which Mr. Brunton, Scottish missionary at Karass, undertook expressly for 
the benefit of the Tartar tribes. To avoid the errors into which Seaman had fallen, Mr. Brunton care- 
fully examined the original text, and consulted, from time to time, the English, German, and other 
versions. In 1807 he published an edition of 500 copies of the Gospel of St. Matthew, in folio, and 
on blue paper. Never was an edition of any part of the Scriptures carried through the press under 
more untoward circumstances. The missionaries had difficulty in obtaining the materials requisite for 
printing, and, owing to the bad construction of their printing-office, their operations were often impeded 
by the inclemency of the weather; added to this, they were frequently driven, by the predatory incur- 
sions of the Tcherkessians, to bury their types in order to secure them. On the completion of this 
Gospel, the British and Foreign Bible Society sent supplies to Karass to print 5000 copies of the entire 
Testament. Mr. Brunton only lived to complete the translation, and died while it was being carried 
through the press. Pie was so intimately acquainted with the language in which he wrote, and his 
Ftyle was so pure and idiomatic, that the Tartars looked upon him as a renegade Turk. After his 
death, the sheets were corrected by Mr. Frazer, and the edition was completed in 1813. 

This edition obtained so extensive a circulation in the south of Russia, that another edition of 
5000 copies was issued two years afterwards at Astrakhan. This was merely a reprint of the Karass 
edition, with a few emendations introduced by Mr. Dickson, one of the Scottish missionaries. 
A translation of the Old Testament was undertaken about the same time by Mr. Dickson. The 
Psalms were completed and published at Astrakhan in 1815, and a second edition of 3000 copies 
appeared at the same place in 1818. Mr. Dickson afterwards proceeded to render Mr. Brunton's 
version of the New Testament into a more polished style, and availed himself for this purpose of 
Ali Bey's Turkish version, which he compared with the original text, and with the principal modern 
translations. It does not appear, however, that any portion of this work has been published. 

RESULT OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

Many years have now elapsed since direct intelligence concerning the spiritual state of the Tartar 
hordes has been obtained in this country. It is gratifying however to know, that when Dr. Henderson 
and Dr. Paterson visited Karass in 1820, they found that the Turkish-Tartar New Testament was well 
understood by the natives, and that in consequence of their reading it, their prejudices had in a great 
measure been softened down, and a general knowledge of the principles of Christianity had been 
diffused among them. A similar testimony to the value of this version was borne in 1835 by 
Mr. Galloway, a Scottish missionary employed by the British and Foreign Bible Society in dis- 
seminating the Scriptures among the Tartars. 



Class IV.] ORENBURG-TART AE. 349 



OREIBUR G-T A R T A R. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 
jrJet-oljj ^Ufc j 2 * L5 <^J ^J^>- i^-v«i£=)j LS ^J s^^Js^. k^A£=j ^i^jjjb l^-v*L^ sJl^jIa.' 

^lli^ 9 *^4^= uj*"^ ( -^!^ i=A>lfA &jy Jj-1 ^^^rJ ^j! J^SibjjJ Jj£ 8 *JMjjAXS3 

u Uj1 ilu-il <£ dLC^UjT ( Jk*> <kUjJjJ .Jdtfi- IajI ^^w '^^j ^^ W J^*M Jjf* ^ J 1 ^ 
<t£=Jj J^sb jli^ijJ ^JlAjJ^I w LJ| *& ^JOjJ^ ~-J>- *& (j'^^ **> *£=> " *jlttVy*U£s 

This version is written in the dialect of the Kirghisian-Tartars, and was especially designed for the 
use of members of that nation residing in the Russian government of Orenburg. The dialect is spoken 
not only in Orenburg, but also in the vast tracts of country extending from the Caspian and Lake of 
Aral to the frontiei's of China. It is the vernacular tongue of two distinct people, namely, of the true 
or Kara-Kirghis, who inhabit the banks of certain rivers in Southern Siberia, and of the Kazak-Kirghis, 
the present occupants of the Kirghis Steppe. The latter are divided into three hordes, called the 
Great horde, Little horde, and Middle horde. The Great horde is reckoned among the tributaries of 
China, but the dependence is merely nominal. The other hordes, though in some degree subject to 
Russia, also preserve a sort of independence of their own. According to Russian authorities, the 
probable number of individuals composing the three hordes is from 2,000.000 to 2,400,000. 

This version is not an original translation, but merely an accommodation of Mr. Brunton's Karass 
version to the peculiar idioms and orthography of the Kirghisian Tartars. Mr. Charles Frazer, one of 
the Scottish missionaries at Astrakhan, was employed in the preparation of the work. An edition of 
2000 copies of the Gospel of St. Matthew was printed in 1818, and two years afterwards 5000 copies 
of the entire Testament were completed at the mission press of Astrakhan, at the expense of the 
Russian Bible Society. The Kirghisians are all Mohammedans, and, though once a civilised and 
literary people, are now in a state of semi-barbarism. Since the suspension of the Russian Bible 
Society there have been few opportunities of ascertaining what results have been wrought among this 
nation by means of the perusal of their vernacular Scriptures. 



UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 



KARAIT E-T ARTAR. 

SPECIMEN, EROM GENESIS, Chap. i. v. 1 to 8. 

* is^J jy^ 4 ^*^ Li**^ '— A^ Ll/^"*" 1 ' *J^-y^ L5j^jii. L — A^J^' 3 ts'V.^ Jt C^J-^^lP* # J^-**^ 
L^P *^= L5^^= lA>V. lP L5J^ J * * ^Ji JjA J l^ Or** JjyV. L5^=^' J * 

il&jjjije L j3uL>1 ^J^J j 6 * ^jJ uj^ L5 s>J7? A^liUJjJ aj^l j j*£=^\ J ls'H? 5 ^ 

'-A^t^jj L5^' i/fc& <-^ ^^ = ^ J ' ^ 7 *^r^" u^V i/jVj wr^ fc&j* *<u-,b\y! 

The Karaites, or " Sons of the Text," are a Jewish sect, so called from the Hebrew word X*lp, 
to read; on account of their reverence for the written law. They are the Protestants of Judaism, 
and are distinguished from other Jews by their rejection of the oral law, and of all traditionary inter- 
pretation, and by their exclusive attachment to the Scriptures of the Old Testament as the only 
infallible source and test of truth. This sect, according to Dr. Henderson and other authorities, was, 
in all probability, originally the same with that of the Sadducees, one of the sects into which the ' 
Jewish nation was divided about two hundred years before the coming of Christ. The erroneous 
doctrines which were entertained by the Sadducees during the time of our Lord appear to have 
formed no part of their original creed, and it has been thought that the adoption of these unscriptural 
tenets, by the disciples of Sadok, gave birth to the Karaim. 

No statistical accounts have been given recently of the Karaite Jews, but it is certain that they 
are very few in number as compared with the Jews of the Rabbinical sect. About the middle of the 
seventeenth century there were 2000 Karaites in Poland, 70 in Constantinople, 1200 in Theodosia, 
300 in Cairo, 200 in Damascus, 30 in Jerusalem, 100 in Babylonia, and 600 in Persia. At the 
present day the Karaites are dispersed through various parts of Russia, in Austria, Turkey, Egypt, 
Abyssinia, Hindoostan, and Palestine. They are highly esteemed by the nations among whom they 
dwell on account of their amiable and moral deportment; but by their Rabbinical brethren they are 
held in utter abhorrence. 

The Karaites have long been in possession of a Tartar version of the Old Testament. The date 
and author of this ancient document ai-e alike unknown ; but we find a quotation from it (consisting 
of the first three verses of Genesis) in an epistle, dated 1691, written by Gustavus Peringer, and 
inserted in Tenzel's Monthly Accounts. Further descriptions of this version were subsequently given 
by Wolfius and others: yet little was known concerning it in Europe until Dr. Pinkerton, when 
travelling in the Crimea, visited one of the settlements of the Karaites, and purchased a complete copy. 
The two books of Chronicles do not appear to have been inserted in this version, but it comprises all 
the other books of the Old Testament. It is written in the Rabbinical character, with the addition 
of certain points and signs indicative of the pronunciation of Tartar sounds. The headings of the 
chapters are in Hebrew, and the first and last verses of every book, with the exception of the Minor 



Class IV.] TSCHUWASCHIAN. 351 

Prophets, are also given in Hebrew. The dialect in which the translation is made was at one time 
supposed to be the Jagatai, spoken by the Tartars of Bokhara. This hypothesis, however, was unsup- 
ported by history or experience ; and it has since been proved that the Karaite-Tartar (as this dialect 
is termed) could never have been vernacular or even intelligible to any Tartar nation. The words, 
indeed, are mostly of Tartar origin, but they are ranged in the exact order of the Hebrew, and the 
style, construction, grammatical observances, and idioms, are all conformable to the Shemitic type. 
This version is, in fact, so truly Hebrew in its character, that to the Turks and Tartars it is a sealed 
book : and even Tartar Jews, if unacquainted with their ancient language, are unable to read it. Nor 
is it likely to be of more general service even in Biblical criticism; for notwithstanding the known 
attachment of the Karaites to the letter of the sacred text, many of the interpretations in this version 
are obviously drawn from the Chaldee Targums, and from the renderings in Kabbinical commentaries. 
On account of this deficiency in point of practical utility, the British and Foreign Bible Society 
have printed but a small specimen portion of this version. An edition of 2000 copies of the book of 
Genesis was published at their expense in 1819, at the mission press of Astrakhan: these copies were 
sent to various parts of Russia and Tartary; but, not being found available for missionary purposes 
among any of the Tartar tribes, no further portions of the version have been issued by the Society. 
An edition of the entire version has been subsequently published by the Jews of South Russia, who 
defrayed the expense by means of subscriptions collected for the purpose: the work, which is in two 
volumes, is said to be very inaccurately printed. 



T 8CHUWASCHIAN. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THE TSCHUWASCHIAN VERSION, see Plate 8, page 334. 

The Tschuwaschians inhabit both sides of the Volga in the governments of Nijnii Novgorod, Kasan, 
and Orenburg. They are also found in Simbirsk and Viatka. Many of them are still idolaters, and 
offer sacrifices on a kind of altar called Keremet. The structure of their dialect is essentially Tartar; 
their mode of declension, and also of conjugation, are very much alike; and three parts of the words 
are unquestionably derived from that idiom. The rest of the words are chiefly Samoiede and Finnish; 
there are also many words which present a surprising resemblance to the corresponding terms in 
Coptic. 

A Bible Society was formed in Simbirsk in 1817, partly for the purpose of furnishing the 
Tschuwaschians with the Xew Testament in their own dialect. In 1818, the Four Gospels were 
translated from the Sclavonic under the superintendence of the Society; and two years afterwards the 
entire Testament, after having been collated with the Greek original, was completed at press at Kasan, 
under the care of the Archbishop of Kasan, to whose diocese the people belong. The edition, which 
was printed in Russian characters, consisted of 5000 copies, and was issued at the expense of the 
Russian Bible Society. 



352 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

TRANS-CAUCASIAN TARTAR. 

SPECIMEN, EROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. t. v. 1 to 12. 

A PECULIAR and rather corrupt dialect of the Turkish is spoken by the greater part of the Moslem 
population in Georgia, Shushi, Shirwan, Derbend, Baku, Karadagh, and North-west Persia. As it is 
vernacular to numerous tribes in all the Eussian provinces beyond the Caucasus, this dialect has been 
termed, by way of distinction, the Trans-Caucasian. It differs in many respects from its cognate 
dialects spoken in Kasan and the Crimea. It has none of the sweetness and dignity of the Turkish ; 
and till reduced to grammatical principles by the German missionaries, did not even hold the rank of 
a written tongue. 

The first work written in this dialect was a translation of the New Testament by Messrs. Zaremba 
and Pfander, agents of the Basle Missionary Society. They at first experienced great difficulty in 
preparing this translation; for. the Armenians of Shushi, though acquainted with the dialect as a 
colloquial medium, were unable to write it, and the Turks were unwilling to lend any aid to the 
undertaking. Afterwards, however, an efficient assistant was found in Mirza Ferookh, an Armenian 
of Shushi, who in early youth had been carried captive into Karadagh, adopted into the family of the 
khan, and instructed in all the learning of Persia. After spending seventeen years at the court 
of his royal patron, he bethought himself of his parents and his native village, and made his escape 
thither. He originally joined the missionaries with a view of learning the Eussian language; but they 
employed him in translating this version of the New, and part of the Old Testament, into his native 
dialect, and the work was blessed to the conversion of his soul. An edition of 1000 copies of the 
Gospel of St. Matthew was printed about the year 1836 by the British and Foreign Bible Society. 
Since that period all direct missionary efforts in the circulation of this version have been suspended by 
an imperial ukase. 



CLASS IY-DBTACHED FAMILIES. 

F. CAUCASIAN FAMILY. 



GEORGIAN. 

FOE SPECIMENS OF THIS VERSION, see Plate 8, page 334. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Geoegia, the country of the ancient Iberi, lies along the southern foot of Mount Caucasus, between 
the Black Sea and the Caspian, and comprises an area of 18,000 square miles, and a population 
estimated at upwards of 500,000. The adjacent tracts of country, sometimes loosely included under the 
general name of Georgia, are occupied by the Mingrelians, the Imeritians, the Suani, and the Lazians, 
who all form part of the Georgian race, and speak dialects of that language ; the collective amount of 
population, including Georgia Proper, is estimated, from the latest date, to exceed 3,000,000. Since 
the beginning of the present century, Georgia has formed a portion of the Russian empire, and the 
national religion is the same as that of Russia. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OE THE LANGUAGE. 

Although in the structure of the Georgian language there are several remarkable points of analogy 
connecting it on the one hand with the languages of the Indo-European class, and on the other with 
those of Eastern and Central Asia, yet it differs in words and roots from all known languages, and is 
therefore entitled to be regarded as a peculiar and distinct idiom. Its frequent use of postpositions, 
and the ease with which certain words can be made to subserve alternately the offices of substantives, 
adjectives, and adverbs, are points in which it claims affinity with the Turkish or Tartarian stock; 
while its multiplicity of inflections, formed for the most part by variations of termination, seems to 
connect it with the Indo-European class. Indeed it has been brought back to the Sanscrit by Bopp, 
but not satisfactorily. It possesses eight distinct cases, formed according to rules that are both simple 
and uniform; and in abundance of verbal inflections it is surpassed by few languages; for though it 
has but two moods, the indicative and the imperative, yet the perfect tense in certain verbs can present 
itself under seven or eight different forms, to which the future tense has as many corresponding ones. 
Moreover, the combination of participles with a dative construction of the object governed, forms 
a feature of this language, more remarkable than in Armenian, or in any kindred dialect of it. In 
fact, its forms of verbs are almost innumerable, for nearly every verb has some peculiarities in conju- 
gation which can be learnt only by practice. 

The alphabetical characters used by the Georgians are of two distinct kinds, the one appropriated 
to civil and the other to ecclesiastical purposes. The first seems to be a combination of various 
elements, some of which are Indian, but the latter is derived from the Armenian ; and, in spite of the 
political relations between the two nations, comparatively few Armenian words have been engrafted 
on the classic Georgian language. A greater admixture of such terms, with the addition of Turkish, 

24 



354 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

Greek, and other foreign words, serves principally to distinguish the modern language of Georgia from 
the venerable idiom in which the version of the Scripture is written. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

According to a tradition of the Georgian church, the Scriptures were translated into this language, 
in the eighth century, by Euphemius, the founder and patron of the Iberian monastery on Mount 
Athos. It is stated, however, by other authorities, that in the sixth century the Georgians sent young 
men of talent into Greece to study the Greek language, and that on their return they furnished their 
countrymen with a translation of the Scriptures and of the liturgical books of the Greek Church. 
But whoever may have been the translator, it is certain that the Georgian version of the Old Testament 
was translated from the Septuagint, and the New Testament from Greek MSS. of the Constantino- 
politan family; and that the entire version was executed at some time between the sixth and the 
eighth centuries. This version would have been of great value in a critical point of view, had it not 
been corrupted during the many centuries through which it has passed. In the beginning of the 
eighteenth century, it was in particular grossly interpolated, for it was then collated with the Sclavonic 
version, and portions of the Old Testament, which had been lost during the political troubles of 
Georgia, were translated anew from the Sclavonic. This revision was carried on at Moscow, under 
the superintendence of Georgian princes who had sought refuge in Eussia. Prince Arcil was the first 
to engage in the work, but he died before it was completed, and a new and more careful revision was 
commenced by Prince Vakuset, who rendered the entire version as conformable as possible to the 
Sclavonic, and introduced the use of verses in imitation of that text. A printed edition was brought 
out under his direction, at Moscow, in 1743, at the expense of his brother, Prince Bacchar; the types 
were cast in that city, and the correction of the press was committed to four native Georgians. This 
was the first occasion on which the entire Georgian version had been committed to the press; but 
a small edition of the New Testament, with the Psalms and Prophets, had been printed a few years 
previously under the care of Prince Vaktangh, at Tiflis, in Georgia. 

The Moscow edition formed the text of the New Testament printed by the Moscow Bible Society 
in 1815, under the superintendence of the Georgian Metropolitan, Ion, and of Archbishop Pafnut, both 
resident in the Kremlin of Moscow. The edition consisted of 5000 copies, and the types from which 
it was printed were cast from the very matrices which had been used for the former edition, 
and which had been providentially preserved during the conflagration of the city at the time of 
Napoleon's invasion. The Society was induced to issue this edition by information received through 
Dr. Pinkerton, in 1814, concerning the state of the Greco- Georgian church. At that period there 
were at least 2000 churches in Georgia, Imeritia, and Mingrelia; and 200 copies of the Bible could 
not be found amongst them all. In consequence of this scarcity of the Scriptures, the clergy were 
very ignorant; but the women of Georgia were noted for the zeal with which they devoted themselves 
to the acquisition of religious knowledge. The tradition that the Georgian nation was first converted 
to Christianity by the preaching of a Greek virgin, named Ninna, in the fourth century, had much 
influence on public opinion; and a proper acquaintance with the doctrines of Scripture has always 
been considered in Georgia an indispensable part of female education. In 1818, the Society printed 
another edition of 2000 copies of the New Testament: in this edition the civil or common characters 
were adopted, which were found more generally intelligible to the laity, the former editions having 
been printed in the sacred or ecclesiastical character, which is almost exclusively used by the clergy. 
More recent editions of various portions of the Scriptures have been printed at Tiflis and in Russia, 
but concerning these editions we have no particular account. 



CLASS IT-DETACHED FAMILIES. 

C. SAMOIEDE FAMILY. 



SAMOIEDE. 

The term " Samoiede," or " Samoyede," or " Samojede," is difficult to interpret. It means properly 
"eaters of themselves;" but this etymology cannot be good, since those tribes have never been 
anthropophagi. In some works written in Russian, the Samoyedes are also called " Syrojedes," eaters of 
raw flesh, an appellation far better suited to them than the former. But as Klaproth states, the term 
" Samoyede" seems to extend far to the eastward in Siberia, and may possibly be of Mongolian origin. 
Be that as it may, under the term " Samoyede," are understood a great number of tribes, occupying 
a tract of country which ranges from the 40th to the 110th degree of longitude, and reaching as far 
as along the Yenisei, to the foot of the Altai range. They are a degraded, ignorant race, depending 
for a precarious subsistence upon fishing and the chase, and slaves to the most abject superstition; 
scattered in divided groups over a large portion of Siberia, as well as over the Arctic shores of the 
European continent, their settlements extending almost from the Dvina and the neighbourhood of 
Archangel to the Lena in East Siberia. They are divided into Western, Eastern, and Southern 
Samoiedes, and their tongue, or rather tongues and dialects, seems to approximate nearer to the 
Finnish stock of languages than to any other, as shown by the vocabularies of Samoiede words collected 
by Pallas and Klaproth. 

As early as 1819, a proposal emanating from Johannes WernagofF, of Beresov, was laid before the 
Branch Bible Society at Tobolsk, to translate the Scriptures into Samoiede. Nothing more, however, 
was heard of the undertaking till the year 1824, when, at a meeting of the Eussian Bible Society, a 
specimen of the first chapter of St. Matthew, in Samoiede, was sent for inspection by Neophitos, bishop 
of Archangel. This chapter had been read to several Samoiedes, who understood it very well, and 
several clergymen of the parish of Ischemsk were in consequence employed to continue the trans- 
lation, under the inspection of Bishop Neophitos. The Committee resolved to encourage the work, 
in the hope of bringing a people sitting in gross darkness to the saving light of the Gospel; but 
unhappily the suspension of the Society by an imperial ukase, in 1826, prevented the prosecution of 
the translation. 



CLASS IV.-DETACHED FAMILIES. 

H. DIALECTS OF THE ISLANDS OF EASTERN ASIA, AND OF COREA. 



JAPANESE. 

FOR SPECIMEN OF THE JAPANESE VERSION, see Plate 9, page 356. 

The Japanese empire consists of four large and many small islands, lying off the eastern shores of the 
Asiatic Continent, between lat. 30° and 45° N., and long. 128° and 146° E. The Japanese have been 
the predominant race in this extensive empire from time immemorial, and it is now impossible to 
ascertain from what region they originally emigrated, for in physical conformation, religion, and 
language, they differ from all the neighbouring nations. It has been conjectured that the population 
of this empire, exclusive of its dependencies, amounts to 50,000,000; but our information on this 
point, as on every thing connected with the interior of Japan, is very imperfect, and other estimates 
rate the population at only half that amount. 

The primitive religion of the Japanese is called Sin-siu, literally, " doctrine of spirits:" it consists 
in the adoration of numerous spirits or divinities supposed to preside over all things visible and 
invisible, and among the foremost in the ranks of these false gods are included the progenitors of the 
present line of emperors. This ancient form of belief has, however, in a great measure been superseded 
by Buddhism, which is now the prevailing religion in Japan. There are also many followers of 
Confucius, who, as in China, devote their sole attention to the affairs of this life, without reference 
to a future state of existence. 

I. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Japanese is a polysyllabic language, and altogether different in structure and idiom from the 
Chinese. The very organs of articulation are dissimilar in the two nations; and such Chinese words 
as have passed into the Japanese vocabulary are greatly altered in pronunciation. Words of Chinese 
origin are however very common in Japanese, having been introduced by Chinese colonies, but more 
particularly by the influence of Chinese literature, upon which all the learning of Japan is based. 
Yet there are points in which the Japanese coincides with the monosyllabic and Tartarian classes of 
languages: it has, for instance, no terminational distinctions of gender, and the cases of substantives 
are denoted by suffixes; the verbs have regular inflections to denote the difference of tense, but they 
are invariable with respect to number and person. In many of its most simple and radical words, 
Japanese also claims affinity with the idioms of Eastern Asia; and several such elemental terms have 
been pointed out by Klaproth as common to the Japanese, Mongolian, and Finnish languages. The 
Chinese characters were formerly used in writing Japanese, but not being found adapted to express 
the sounds of this language, three different syllabaries were invented by the Japanese, and are now in 
general use; they consist chiefly of modified and contracted Chinese characters. Those in principal 



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Class IV.] LOOCHOOAN. 357 

use are the Katat/ana, used for scientific works; and the Hiragana, or running hand, used in light 
literature, and in common intercourse. 

II. — VERSION OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The rigid exclusion of foreigners from Japan during the last three centuries, and the suspicious 
and vigilant spirit of the government, have rendered the translation of the Scriptures into Japanese 
a matter of almost insuperable difficulty. Dr. Medhurst, agent of the London Missionary Society in 
China, applied to the study of the Japanese language, and made copies of the dictionaries and other 
works that were accessible to him, in the hope of qualifying himself for this arduous undertaking; but 
the honour of translating the first portion of Scripture into the language of this extensive empire was 
reserved for the late Dr. Gutzlaff. About the year 1835, three shipwrecked Japanese mariners arrived 
at Macao on their voyage homewards, and during the few months that they remained in that city, 
Dr. Gutzlaff availed himself of their aid in translating the Gospel of St. John into their language. 
This translation was printed at Singapore about the year 1839, but it does not appear that oppor- 
tunities have as yet been afforded for its circulation. Upon the occasion of Dr. Gutzlaff's visit to 
England, however, in 1849, proposals for printing the Scriptures in the Japanese tongue (as well as 
in other languages of Eastern Asia) were submitted by him to the Committee of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, and a small grant was made towards printing a certain portion of the New Testament 
in Japanese, as a pioneer translation. Since that time the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of 
St. John have been printed, according to Dr. Gutzlaff's translation. The whole MS. of the New 
Testament, as translated by him and his associates into Japanese, is at present in this country. 

The style of Dr. Gutzlaff's version, however, being found inferior and little likely to prove accep- 
table to the better educated in Japan, a new translation was undertaken by Dr. Bettelheim, missionary 
to Loo-Choo; and the MS. of the Four Gospels was sent by him to England. It is in Chinese and 
Japanese, the Japanese being written in the Katagana character. An edition of the Gospel of St. Luke, 
from Dr. Bettelheim's version, has been printed at Hong-Kong, under the care of the Bishop of Victoria, 
and at the expense of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. This edition is regarded as 
tentative only, and is issued with the view of subjecting it to inquiries as to its accuracy, and its 
adaptation in style and idiom to the Japanese mind, before proceeding further in the important labour 
of which it forms a commencement. The recent negociation of a treaty of commerce between Great 
Britain and Japan (1858), in virtue of which the ships of the former power have permission to visit 
certain ports of this hitherto secluded empire, may be confidently looked forward to as a means of aid 
to missionary enterprise. 



-*~- 



LOOCHOOAN. 

FOE SPECIMEN OF THIS VEESIOJST, see Plate 9, page 356. 

The Loochoo, or Lewchew Islands, are thirty-six in number, and lie about 400 miles eastward of 
China, nearly midway between Japan and Formosa. The principal island, called Great Loochoo, 
from which the entire group derives its name, is fifty miles long, and from twelve to fifteen broad, but 
most of the other islands are of very inferior dimensions. The inhabitants are of the same race as the 
Japanese, and speak a dialect of that language. They are now subject to China: their religion is that 
of Fo or Buddha, and their government is a despotic monarchy. 

A mission, called the " Loochoo Naval Mission," having for its object the conversion of the 
Loochooans to Christianity, was commenced about the year 1843. Dr. Bettelheim, a medical mis- 



358 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. 

sionary, was sent, in 1846, by this Society to Loochoo, whence he has since returned to America. 
He has translated the Four Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, into Loochooan; 
and from the similarity of this dialect to Japanese, it is hoped that his translations may be found useful 
in Japan itself. In addition to contributions from other sources, a grant of fifty pounds was made 
by the British and Foreign Bible Society towards defraying the expenses of printing Dr. Bettelheim's 
version of the Gospel of St. Luke and of the Acts. As the Japanese characters are used in writing 
Loochooan, and as the casting of type for these characters in England is far more expensive than 
cutting the blocks in China, it was resolved to have the work printed at Hong Kong. This work, the 
expenses of which have been mainly defrayed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, has 
since been accomplished, under the superintendence of the Bishop of Victoria (Hong Kong). The 
Loochooan version of St. Luke, St. John, Acts, and Komans, was thus completed in 1855. We possess 
as yet, however, no information concerning its reception among the interesting population for whose 
use it is designed. 



ALEUTIAN, OR ALIOTJT-LXSEYEFE. 

The Aleutian Islands form a long circular chain, above 1300 miles in length, traversing the North 
Pacific from Cape Alaska, in America, to the peninsula of Kamtschatka, in Asia, so as almost to unite 
the two continents. These islands are extremely numerous. They were partially discovered by Behring 
in 1741; the largest, which still bears his name, is upwards of sixty miles in length, but many of the 
others are mere rocks. They are much frequented by the Russian Fur Company, and are included in 
the government of Irkutsk. Most of the inhabitants are idolaters, though many of them have been 
baptized and instructed in the rites of the Greek church. They subsist chiefly on the produce of 
fishing and the chase; and, to judge from their habits and physical conformation, appear an inter- 
mediate race between the Mongolians and the North American Indians. Their language is very similar 
to that of the Esquimaux, especially of the Namolles, an Esquimaux tribe residing on the shore of the 
north-eastern promontory of Asia. In point of number the Aleutians have been variously estimated 
at from a few hundreds to six thousand. 

The Gospel of St. Matthew has been translated for the benefit of these islanders by Priest Joan 
Veniaminoff, otherwise written John Benjaminoff, by whom the language was first reduced to writing, 
and a Grammar of it published at St. Petersburg in 1846. He had resided for fifteen years as mis- 
sionary among this people : the dialect in which the translation is made is that spoken in the island of 
Oonalashka; but there is no great difference between the idioms of the various islands of this group, 
any local peculiarity being readily explained by means of marginal notes. The first chapter of St. Luke, 
and the first two chapters of the Acts, have been translated by the same Russian priest into the dialect 
spoken in the island of Atkho, or Atcha. The only Aleutian translation which has hitherto been com- 
mitted to the press is that of the Gospel of St. Matthew, which was printed at Moscow, in 1840, in 
parallel columns with the Russian version. 



Class IV.] CO RE AN. 359 



COHEAN. 

Corea is a peninsula of Eastern Asia, separated from Mantchou Tartary by a lofty chain of mountains. 
Its area, inclusive of the islands near its shores, has been estimated at 80,000 square miles: its amount 
of population is uncertain, but does not probably exceed 2,000,000. The government is a despotic 
monarchy, and the country is tributary to China, and perhaps to Japan : the religious systems of Buddha 
and of Confucius have each their respective adherents. 

The language, being destitute of inflexions indicative of gender and number, and forming its 
cases by means of suffixes, is analogous in its main features to the Tartarian class. It is also strikingly 
similar to Japanese. Many Chinese words enter into its composition, for Corea has received its civilisa- 
tion and its literature from China, and the Chinese language is sedulously cultivated by all ranks as the 
principal learned and literary medium, and the only avenue to political distinction. Composite words 
are of very frequent occurrence in Corean, the first syllable consisting of the native word, and the 
second of the Chinese synonym pronounced in the Corean manner. This arrangement renders the 
language extremely verbose, but its sounds are by no means disagreeable to the ear of a foreigner, the 
pronunciation being clear, full, and sonorous. In writing, the Coreans use syllabic characters similar in 
theory to the Japanese Katagana system, but suited to the peculiar articulations of their own language. 
These characters are placed in vertical columns, as in Chinese and Japanese, and when written, they 
are so grouped together as to form in appearance figures similar in many respects to Chinese characters. 

In 1832, the shores of Corea were visited by Dr. Gutzlaff, who distributed portions of the Chinese 
Scriptures among the inhabitants, and caused a copy of the entire Chinese version to be conveyed to 
the monarch. A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew into Corean has been effected by a Baptist 
missionary, and the Psalms have been translated by Dr. Schmidt; but these translations are still in MS., 
and their critical merits have not been ascertained. There is at present no possibility of introducing 
the light of Divine truth into Corea: foreigners are zealously excluded from the country, and Europeans 
are seldom permitted even to land on its shores. It may be expected, however, that the altered political 
relations between the Chinese government and the various nations of the civilised world, consequent 
upon recent events, will ere long afford an opening for the entrance of the Word of Truth into this as 
well as other portions of the vast and hitherto benighted empire of China. 



CLASS Y.-POLYNESIAN, OB MALAYAN, 



MALAYAN. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 
[Calcutta Edition, 1817.] 

■ jj .db] ^\ J 2 * c^tlSa <dbl *il] w b <dS^ *L alb! L^~tl£= ^b u^v*l£= <*lb! t^L Ai 
^j^=uap-j iibo* ifjwj jls>- 4_j u«j cj!j«j c ib <__£« t__ t^j! ^£ruj^-j xx*a »^«s *<dll ^Lj c_il* 
l_C« * .-uJb» JjCj ty alb! ci-*j! iiA?^ u^ crl? 1 ^ ^^ '■--vJ i— *♦!!*> * tl-^ljl .^La-hI* 
^j ^j^jb* 9jj^ alb! * Li-ol ..j *jJ libo - *ju! ti-ol j»K dC» Jc£=s J bo lsW^ l ~*vJ P^r 1 ' 
^bL L2~u! e^j ^ -wJLij jaJuj ,^-w^aS' jb^-u aJjub ^>! ^ * Usr <_>Lj all! alj! ^-y' 

* Ujj J!j^ l— ■%*i'b ij«~> ,^jb* '<Lji*u~> ^JijX* £_> uiio! ,-u i_j c j i^-y,l alb! * 4-^ — jl 
*A~> ^J ' * ^ J^t« jUj ijwj b«Jj lIC u-^Ij! u; £=ua?-j *jw bJj ^b Ujj Jbo ^! alb! 

£y! J^C-o Jj l -^V.i ^1 ajl f ijpi <^bsj^» u^£ iSj^* ^^ J '^-VJ '— -~l/* ^ l1C« ,5^ L^-X*-*» ^Jud 

e/>^ ^ J t^ J J^^= ^ J {j£=>y. u^ */ J ^ cr^ ^J 3 *^ H 13 *V^* J ufl uk~J & 

^j iyj ^b j_£b iib>- iiX-o Li-ol c^v*K c_X< 4 * <_ Jys- aJJ! iXj^ii t__>la> ,j«*ib» jiU^fbjii 

It is difficult, if not impossible, to calculate the exact number of individuals composing the restless and 
enterprising race to which this language is vernacular, but they certainly include several millions. The 
kingdom of Menanghabou, in the central region of Sumatra, where this language, with some little 
dialectic variation, is still spoken, appears to have been the original country of the Malays; but, impelled 
by the love of adventure and of trade, they possessed themselves at a very early period of the Malayan 
peninsula from the fifth degree of north latitude, and then established successive colonies in the districts 
most favourably situated for commerce throughout the islands of the Malayan archipelago. In the 
Malayan peninsula, the Malays, properly so called, are held and consider themselves as quite distinct from 
the Orimg bcnau, or aborigines: the latter, indeed, are very different from them both in appearance and in 



Class V.] .' MALAYAN. 361 

speech. On all tne sea-coasts of those islands, and on the banks of the navigable rivers, there is but one 
language of traffic in which merchants and traders of all nations transact their business, and that lan- 
guage is the Malayan, which on that account has been called the lingua franca of the Eastern archi- 
pelago. This predominance is due not only to the energetic commercial habits of the Malays, but 
likewise to the peculiar qualities of the language itself. It is soft and harmonious in pronunciation, 
simple and easy in its grammatical system, plain and natural in the construction of sentences. The 
cases of nouns are denoted by prepositions; distinct words are used to express the singular and the 
plural number; and gender is ascribed to no inanimate object. There are few if any Malayan sounds 
which cannot be readily articulated by Europeans; and even in the numerous words which are borrowed 
from other languages, the Malays smooth and polish down the harsher sounds to the standard of their 
own organs. 

Malayan is a branch of the ancient and widely-extended language of which the fragments are to 
be found in nearly all the islands of the Pacific. The so-called Polynesian language, which ranges from 
the South Sea Islands to the East, as far as Madagascar in the West, bears in the Malay tongue the 
same proportion as Anglo-Saxon does in English; and words borrowed from Sanscrit and from Arabic 
occupy in it the same relative position as words derived from Greek and Latin do in our own language. 
It is therefore in many respects almost identical with the dialects of the South Sea islanders, and 
especially with those of the Malayan archipelago; but it likewise possesses some distinctive character- 
istics of its own, and a considerable portion of its vocabulary is undoubtedly borrowed from the 
Sanscrit, through intercourse with India. Arabic has had even more influence than the Sanscrit in the 
modification of this language; and nearly all the abstract terms, as well as the religious and political 
theories of the Malays, are derived from the Koran. The Arabic characters have been principally employed 
in writing Malayan since the conversion of the Malays of Sumatra to Islamism, in A.D. 1204. The 
Malay language thus written is called basa jahwi, or mixed tongue. Six sounds which do not exist in 
Arabic are denoted by means of diacritical points. Pom an letters are also extensively used by the 
Malays, especially in some of the Dutch colonies. 

[Oxfoed Edition, 1677.] 
Pada mouleynja itou adda jang Pattahu, daan Pattahu itou adda pada ALLAH- 
TALLA, daan Pattahu itou ja ALLAH-TALL A juga. 2 Ini derri pada mouleynja adda 
pada ALL AH-TALL A. 3 Barrang appa sammoa souda jaddi derri itou juga, daan jangan 
itou tjadda jaddi appa appa derri itou, jang souda jaddi juga. 4 Pada jang ini juga adda 
hidopan, daan hidopan itou trangnja orang manusscia. 5 Daan trang itou ja adda bertja 
ja dallani glap itou, daan glap itou tjadda menmoungut trang itou juga. 6 De sitou jaddi 
menjuro derri ALL AH-TALLA orang manusscia sa orang, jang nammanja adda Joannes. 
7 Jang ini datan capada sahitan agar dia bersahit derri trang itou, sebab dia sammoa 
jaddi pitsja ja derri pada djala. 8 Dia bouckan trang itou, tetapi dia souda souro acan, 
agar dia jaddi bersahit derri trang itou. 9 Jang trang benar itou dia, jang dia bri trang 
acan sagnap orang manusscia, wachtou datan de dunja. 10 Dia adda de dunja, daan dunja 
itou ja souda boat derri pada dia : daan dunja ja tjadda. kenelnja juga. n Dia souda datan 
pada jang ca dia, daan ca dia itou ja tjadda sambotnja. 12 Tetapi itou sammoa jang dia 
sambotnja, itou dia souda bri coassa, menjaddi annac ALLAH- TALL A, [catauwi] itou, 
jang dia souda pitsja ja dallam nammanja. 13 Jang ca manna ja bouckan jaddi derri dara, 
lagi derri condati dagging, lagi derri condati lelacki pon tjadda, tetapi jang souda men- 
jaddi derri ALL AH-TALL A juga. u Daan Pattahu itou ja souda jaddi dagging, daan 
souda doudoc de tenga kita, (daan kita souda caleatan mouljanja, suatu mahamoul ja 
saperti sabatang cara derri Bappa la) pouno clengan fermang daan benarnja. 



362 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 

I.— VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

No fewer than seven distinct versions of the Scriptures, in whole or in part, exist in this language. 
The honour of originating and commencing this series of translations belongs to the Dutch, who applied 
themselves to this important work very shortly after the formation of their East India Company in 
1602. The first translation was made by John Van Hasel, a director of that Company, about the 
beginning of the seventeenth century. When he had completed a version of the Gospel according to 
St. Matthew, he handed over the MS. to Peter de Carpentier, the general of the Company; and soon 
after, in 1612, another version of St. Matthew was delivered to the same individual by Albert Cornelisson 
Ruyl, in order that the two translations might be compared. It was objected to the former that it was 
too literal, and therefore unidiomatic; and to Ruyl's, that it was too courtly: ultimately, however, the 
preference was assigned to the latter. Encouraged by this decision, Euyl devoted himself to the 
completion of the New Testament; but he only lived to translate as far as the close of the Gospel 
according to St. Mark. His MSS. were sent to Holland, and were printed with the Dutch version, at 
Enkhuyzen, in 1629; and again at Amsterdam, in 1638. 

Van Hasel, far from being discouraged at the preference with which Ruyl's version was regarded, 
persevered with his own translation, and completed a version of the Four Gospels, of which, however, 
St. Luke and St. John only have been published. They were printed at Amsterdam in 1646, with 
the Dutch version. Van Hasel also translated the Psalms, in concert with Justus Heurn, who for 
fifteen years presided over the Dutch Church in India. The first portion of this version was printed at 
Amsterdam in 1648, and the entire Psalter appeared at the same place in 1689. Heurn likewise trans- 
lated the Acts of the Apostles into Malayan, and revised the Gospels of Van Hasel and Ruyl according 
to the Greek, or rather, perhaps, conformed them to the Low or Belgic Dutch version of 1637; whereas, 
they had been originally accommodated to the Dutch version executed from Luther's German Bible. This 
revision was carried on under the sanction of the Dutch Company; and an edition consisting of the 
Gospels and Acts, with the Dutch version in the margin, was printed at their expense at Amsterdam 

[Beowee's Teanslation, 1668.] 

Pada moulanja adcla jang Cattahan itou, daen jang Cattahan itou adda decat Alia 
Thalia, daen jang Cattahan itou adda Alia Thalia. 2 Itoula pada moulanja adda decat 
Alia Thalia. 3 Barang appa samoa souda menjaddi derri itou djouga, daen sin itou tida 
menjaddi app' appa [derri samoanja] nang souda menjaddi. 4 Dallam jang ini adda 
idoppan, daen idoppan itou adda orang manusia pounja trang. 5 Daen trang itou 
bertsjaya dallam galap, daen galap tida polo trang itou. 6 De sanna adda manusia satou 
jang jaddi souro derri Alia Thalia, nammanja Joannes. 7 Ini-la souda datang pada bri 
sahittan, agar dia bersaxi derri trang itou, agar orang samoa petsjaya derri pada dia. 
8 Dia ti' adda jang trang itou, hanja dia jaddi menjouro, agar dia bersaxi derri trang 
itou. 9 Ini-la trang jang benar, jang bertrangacan segalla manusia jang datang de dallam 
dunja. 10 Dia adda de dallam dunja, daen durija souda menjaddi derri pada Dia: daen 
dunja tida kenal pada Dia. n Dia souda datang pada dia pounja orang, daen dia pounja 
orang tida tarima pada Dia. 12 Hanja brappa orang soada tarima pada Dia, pada orang 
itou Dia souda bri coassa pada menjaddi Alia Thalia pounja annac, catauwi pada orang 
itou jang petsjaya capada Dia pounja namma. 13 Jang tida menjaddi derri dara, nen 
derri daging pounja candati, nen derri lacki lacki pounja candati, hanja derri Alia Thalia 
djouga. u Daen jang Cattahan itou souda jaddi daging, daen itou souda doudoc de 
antara cami, (daen cami souda menantang dia pounja berbesaran, jang adda berbesaran 
seperti Bappa pounja Annac sa orang sadja) pounou dengan fermang daen benarran. 



Class V.] MALAYAN. 363 

in 1651. This edition appears to have been used as the text of another edition of the Gospels and Acts, 
printed at Oxford in 1677, at the expense of the Hon. Kobert Boyle, and under the superintendence of 
Dr. Hyde, keeper of the Bodleian Library. A second impression of the same work, in every respect 
similar to the first, was printed at Oxford in 1704, and the copies were sent to the East, to be distributed 
among the natives to whom the language is vernacular. These, and all the editions above mentioned, 
were printed in Roman characters. 

At length, in 1668, the entire New Testament was printed in Roman letters at Amsterdam, 
translated by Daniel Brower, "with all care and fidelity, out of the Greek, Latin, and Belgic languages, 
into the Malay." The translator was a Dutch minister, who lived and died in the East: he also 
prepared a version of the book of Genesis, which was printed in 1662, and again in 1687, at 
Amsterdam. 

We now come to the standard Malay version of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, a trans- 
lation prepared by the progressive labours of many learned men, and universally acknowledged to be 
a correct and faithful representation of the original text. This important work was commenced by 
Dr. Leidekker, a Dutch minister of Batavia, in 1685; and was carried on from first to last under the 
patronage and at the expense of the Dutch East India Company. Dr. Leidekker, who appears, by his 
Malay and Dutch dictionaries, and by his notes on the Hebrew and Latin dictionaries of Cocceius, to 
have been eminently qualified for the undertaking, advanced very slowly with the translation, 
scrupulously refraining from committing any word to writing that had not been subjected to the most 
minute and careful examination. He translated most of the books of the Old Testament twice; and in 
the New Testament had advanced as far as the 6th verse of the 6th chapter of the Epistle to the 
Ephesians, when he was called by the Lord of life and death to enjoy the reward of a faithful 
servant. 

After the decease of this diligent translator, Petrus Van der Vorm, as the principal linguist among 
the Dutch ministers in the East, was appointed, in 1701, by the consistory, with the consent of 
government, to complete the work; which task he accomplished before the close of the year. He had 
previously given full proof of his ability and proficiency in the Malayan language by composing a 
Malayan grammar and other philological works, and particularly by translating the whole of the New 
Testament and part of the Old from the Arabic into Malayan. The Dutch government, however, 
justly considered that a work of such vital importance to the Malay race should not be left to the skill 
of one man, and accordingly, in 1722, four ministers were appointed to examine and correct it. Van 
der Vorm was one of the individuals chosen for this purpose; the other three were Arnaldus Brandts, 
Cornelius Ninaber, and George Hendrick Werndly. In the progress of this revision, these ministers 
uniformly consulted in the first place the Greek and Hebrew texts, with the Latin translations of Arias 
Montanus and others, and then the Dutch version: when any difficulty occurred, they referred to the 
Chaldee, Syriac, and particularly the Arabic versions, and sometimes to the Septuagint and the 
Persian: they also compared the German versions of Luther and Piscator, the French, the English, and 
occasionally the Spanish versions, with the Malayan translation before them. Their meetings com- 
menced always with prayer for the enlightening of the Holy Spirit to a right understanding of the 
Word of God, and concluded with thanksgiving. Whenever they differed much concerning the 
rendering of a word or passage, they delayed their decision until they had first individually considered 
the subject in private, and consulted the natives and competent Malayan scholars on the subject; so 
that sometimes months elapsed before they formed a final decision. The work, thus carefully and 
deliberately conducted, occupied about five years, having been commenced in 1723, and completed in 
1728. Two copies appear to have been made, the one in Roman and the other in Arabic characters. 
The former was printed at Amsterdam, 1731-1733, under the care of the Rev. G. H. Werndly, above 
mentioned, and Dr. Serruns, aided by two Malay chaplains. The latter was published at Batavia in 
1758, in 5 vols. 8vo., under the direction of the Dutch governor, Jacob Mossel. 

It does not appear what further measures were taken to supply the Malays with copies of the 



364 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 

Scriptures until the year 1813, when George Livett, Esq., the resident at Amboyna, addressed the 
Calcutta Bible Society in behalf of the Amboynese Christians, whom he represented as numbering 
20,000 individuals, but as being almost destitute of Bibles. His accounts of the churches and schools 
in Amboyna were corroborated by other correspondents of the Society, and it was resolved to print 
3000 copies of the Malayan New Testament, in 8vo., at Serampore, for the special use of the Amboy- 
nese converts. The design was liberally aided by the Bengal government; and in 1814 the edition 
left the press: it was printed in Koman letters from the text of 1731. Almost all the copies, with 
1000 copies of the book of Genesis, were sent to Amboyna, and were there distributed by the resident, 
Mr. Martin, assisted by the Rev. Messrs. Kam and Carey. In his letter of acknowledgment to the 
Society, Mr. Martin stated, that " the church was crowded by a multitude of people of both sexes and 
of all ages, imploring, with an earnestness of supplication that could not be resisted, the unreserved 
communication to them all of an advantage which all appreciated, and which all had been prepared 
and were qualified to enjoy." 

It was necessary, however, not only to provide for Amboyna and its dependencies, where the 
Malays employ Koman letters, but for other Malayan districts, where the Arabic characters are still 
used. The Society therefore determined upon printing two distinct editions of the Scriptures, the 
one in Koman, the other in Arabic letters. The former edition was completed in 1817, when 1000 

[Seeampoee Edition, 1814] 

Pada mulanja 'adalah Kalimat, dan Kalimat 'adalah sama 'Allah, dan 'Allah 'adalah 
Kalimat. 2 'Ija 'ini 'adalah pada mulanja sama 'Allah. 3 Samowa sudah dedjadikan 
'awlehnja: maka bararg sawatu pawn jarg djadi sudah tijada dedjadikan, melajinkan 
'awlehnja. 4 Dalamnja 'itu 'adalah kahidopan, dan kahidopan 'itu 'adalah tararg segala 
manusija : 5 Maka tararg 'itu bertjhaja didalam kalam, maka kalam 'itu sudah tijada 
tarima dija 'itu. 6 'Adalah sa* awrarg manusija jarg tersuroh 'awleh 'Allah, namanja 
JaHrja. 7 'Ija 'ini datarglah membawa kasjaksi*an, hendakh bersjaksi 'akan tararg 'itu, 
sopaja sakalijen 'awrarg pertjaja 'awlehnja. 8 'Ija 'ini bukan 'adalah tararg 'itu, mela- 
jinkan sopaja 'ija bersjaksi 'akan tararg 'itu. 9 'Adalah 'ija tararg jarg benar 'itu, jarg 
menarargkan sasa'*awrarg manusija, sedarg datargnja kadalam dunja. 10 'Adalah 'ija 
didalam dunja, dan dunja. sudah dedjadikan 'awlehnja : maka dunja, sudah tijada merg^enal 
dija. u 'Ija sudah datarg kapada tampatnja jarg chats, maka 'awrargnja jarg chats sudah 
tijada menjambot dija. 12 Tetapi barapa \> 'awrarg sudah menjambot dija, maka pada 
marika 'itu 'ija sudah memberij kawasa mendjadi 'anakh \i 'Allah, 'ija 'itu pada segala 
'awrarg, jarg pertjaja 'akan namanja. 13 Jarg sudah tapefanakh bukan deri pada bararg 
darah, dan bukan deri pada kahendakh dagirg, dan bukan deri kahendakh laki p, hanja 
deri pada 'Allah djuga. H Maka Kalimat 'itu sudah djadi dagirg, dan sudah merg*- 
adijamij di'antara kamij, (maka kamij sudah meinandarg kamulija"annja, sawatu kamu- 
lija'an seperti jarg punja 'Anakh jarg torggal deri pada Bapa) punbh dergan ni?.met dan 
Ihakhikhet. 



Class V.] MALAYAN. 365 

copies of tlie entire Bible from the text of 1731-1733 left the press. The Arabic edition was not com- 
pleted till 1822, when 3000 copies of the New and 2000 copies of the Old Testament were published 
at Serampore, and forwarded to Penang, Malacca, Java, and Bencoolen, for distribution. The text of 
this latter edition was the version of 1758, carefully revised and corrected by the Bev. Mr. Hutchings 
and Major MTnnes. The editors found little to alter in that admirable version beyond a few obsolete 
words and typographical errors. 

While these editions were passing through the press at Calcutta, further supplies of the Malayan 
Scriptures were being prepared in London, at the earnest request of the Auxiliary Bible Society at 
Amboyna. In 1819, 10,000 copies of the New Testament in the Roman character, from the text of 
1733, were printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society, under the care of Professor Lee; and in 
1822, 5000 copies of the entire Bible from the same text were issued. 

The Netherlands Bible Society likewise contributed towards supplying the Malays with the oracles 
of God; and in 1820, 15,000 copies of the New Testament were printed at Haarlem, followed in 1824 
by an edition of 7000 copies of the whole Bible. These editions were printed in Arabic characters, 
from the edition of 1758, and were carried through the press under the able superintendence of Professor 
Wilmet. In 1822, the same Society determined upon an edition of 5000 Bibles and 5000 New Testa- 
ments in the Roman character, from the texts of 1733. The British and Foreign Bible Society sub- 
scribed for a large proportion of all these editions. 

Whether the Netherlands Bible Society have printed any later editions does not appear; but it 
is satisfactory to find that the Calcutta Society have since resumed their labours in this department. 
In 1830, they printed at Singapore an edition of 2500 copies of St. Matthew's Gospel, in Arabic cha- 
racters, as the first step towards giving a fresh edition of the entire New Testament- This measure was 
adopted in consequence of the desire manifested among the Western Malays themselves to read the 
Scriptures, — a circumstance never known before, for the holy volume had previously been urged upon 

[Singapore Edition, 1831.] 

u^jIj^j pjb cX« ^ <yjj<3 u+Jsl jj\j { Ar^'j\ f j£j^\s>-£ &> 'i\y»~> J&~* * $\ ivr^ ^r* t$y* ^ 

U-»jI ?y i£r^y. *^*i*y <> -^* * i£rt4^ LS^tP cii^^* J£~a ^IL *-^-vJ £j-» lif^ [^uii-jJ 

jjxjjU-j <dj' 'ojj ^j Luj Jlj ^1 l ^^vJ "^u*ii cX* Jy-J * cjjuJU (JiLj jjiif^M ijUL> Ljj 
^^jj cjjl ^slw (A^X* j^ f-j*b <dj .J llX^ * ls j (it^ J- 1 ^* *A*j ^ j l** 1 ^^ <=£!-^ ervl^ 

Jjlj tXJjJ (iT^y C^lA 1 ' ^ t« * (i)^ c/^ LsVv* t» £>^ <-^ *i*V3 ^ Cp^ L5 J ^^* C"J^ 

■^J>j£~> ^^y*£=> *\j-» ui^j*1>1 ^js-LOja^ tj: — i^-O *j»-j ti^o^s cX« -^li" LXil *ji) Ij^-j j-j^b ^^1^- 



366 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 

them rather than freely accepted, and their Mohammedan prejudices had been deemed impregnable. 
In consequence of their increased demand for the " Englishman's Koran," the Calcutta Society published, 
in 1833, a revised edition of 1000 copies of the Gospels and Acts, and 1500 copies of the entire New 
Testament, from the edition corrected by Mr. Hutchings. The printing was carried on at Singapore, 
under the care of the Eev. Messrs. Thomsen and Burn of the London Missionary Society, by whom 
such alterations were introduced in the text as a longer and more intimate acquaintance with the lan- 
guage had rendered desirable. 

Another version of the New Testament, less literal and more idiomatic than former translations, 
has been executed by the agents of the London Missionary Society and of the American Bible Society, 
at Singapore. The expenses have been partly defrayed by the British and Foreign Bible Society; 
editions consisting of 1000 copies in Boman and 1000 in Arabic characters were printed in 1856, 
under the care of the Bev. B. P. Keasberry, and are now in process of distribution. 

It now only remains under the head of Malayan Scriptures to notice a version made in a dialect of 
this language termed " Low Malay." This dialect, sometimes called "Common, or Colloquial Malay," 
because it is in many districts the general medium of conversation, is spoken more especially in the 

[Robinson's Veesion, 1823.] 

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m y-y y y y % y A o-a^ - y 9 „s *.y y 

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*,' S w S y y y *»y W y y 

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* , ^ ~'~y y S. y y $■ «. ~ ^ 

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s s- ' s- - ' ' ~y - - - i 

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cjj^ J\2-s u_^« * <W^ f <Jh5\ til^-ti (j~\y iej£*"* iJu0 J (J^ t ~^'^ f Ji^ *-^* J '^ < — ^* 

^ y mi m 9 y ' w 9 y . L&y w ^ 

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> *" y * S > r * ^"~ 

y ^ S S S j^__ 9 ' my 

* uj^'u t> ifi-'^ ij^^ '-^■^ '—^'^ l£>\ ^-^ *— ^* '— '^ 



Class V.] MALAYAN. 367 

lower parts of Java, as for instance in Batavia and the whole neighbourhood; whereas, the Malayan 
Proper, or " High Malay," is spoken in the upper parts of the same island. Dr. Leyden long ago 
remarked upon the impossibility of forming such a version as would be approved in every Malay 
country; at the same time observing, that a version in the idiom of Malacca and Batavia would not 
be very intelligible to the Malays of Sumatra and other islands. The Rev. Claudius Buchanan also 
mentioned that the Dutch version of 1758 was not clearly understood by the Malays of Sumatra, and 
that Thomas Jarrett, Esq., of the Company's civil service, had prepared a translation in the Sumatran 
idiom at the College of Fort William: the Four Gospels of this version were ready for press as early as 
1804, but whether any portion was actually printed does not appear. 

In the year 1814, the Java Auxiliary Bible Society was formed, and one of the first measures 
contemplated was the translation of the New Testament into Low Malay. Mr. Robinson, a Baptist 
missionary, was engaged to prepare the work; and, after much delay arising from sickness and local 
difficulties, he completed and printed the Gospels according to St. Matthew and St. John. The 
printing was afterwards transferred to the College at Singapore, and the version appears to have been 
completed by Dr. Medhurst. An edition of the New Testament left the press in 1833, and some 
considerable distributions were made by Dr. Medhurst, during a visit to Sourabaya, on the north-east 
coast of Java, and Samarang. 

A translation of the Psalms into Low Malay has more recently been made by some Christians at 
Sourabaya; and an edition of 1000 copies has been printed at Amsterdam, under the care of Professor 
Vetti, by the Netherlands Bible Society. The edition left the press in 1847, and the copies were 
forwarded to Sourabaya. 

II. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

The readiness with which the Malays receive the Scriptures is proved by the numerous editions 
which have been distributed among them. A few instances of the perusal of the Malayan version 
having been blessed to the conversion of individuals, are recorded by the missionaries. Ali, a native 
teacher of the Malayan language, was led to compare the Bible with the Koran, and the comparison 
resulted in his rejection of Mohammedanism. In 1839, he professed his faith in Christianity by receiving 
the rite of baptism. " The religion of Jesus (he often said) is the only true one given to man, because 
it changes the heart, which the Koran, and the study I have given to it . for twenty years, could not 
produce." 

It is in the highest degree gratifying to learn that the prospect of missionary efforts among the 
Malays is becoming even more encouraging now than some years ago, especially in the Dutch possessions. 
The recent edition of the Malay Scriptures, above referred to, is likely to be speedily exhausted, and 
the demand for the Word of God is daily increasing. " You are warranted in rejoicing (writes the 
Rev. J. H. Barnstein, one of the missionaries of the Rhenish Missionary Society at Banjermassin, in 
Borneo, 1852), over the desire manifested here among the Mohammedan Malays to possess the Scrip- 
tures; and we can in truth assure you that the precious Word of God has already produced much good 
here. Even though we may as yet be able to reckon only a few isolated individuals who have openly 
embraced Christianity, we have the gratification of observing that on the whole many prejudices against 
the Gospel have been removed, and as the people read and hear the Word of God with feelings very 
different to those which formerly existed, we have the confident hope that by the blessing and grace 
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, it will in time to come increasingly take root and bring forth 
fruit." 



.368 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 



FORMOSA N. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Formosa is an island lying off the east coast of China, under the tropic of Cancer, and directly north 
of the Philippines. It is not above 100 miles from the Chinese coast, from which it is separated by the 
Strait of Formosa, or channel of Fokien, as it is sometimes (from the adjoining province of that name) 
called. Its length, which is greatest from north to south, includes more than three degrees of latitude, 
and is not less than 250 English miles; but it is much narrowed towards each extremity, and its 
breadth at the widest part does not exceed eighty miles. According to the most recent information, 
the population is about 2,500,000. 

The Dutch appear to have been the first foreign power who obtained dominion over this island; 
but they were expelled, and many of them cruelly massacred, in 1661, by a Chinese pirate; and since 
1683, Formosa has been subject to China. The natives are of the same race as the Haraforas, or Alforas, 
of the Moluccas and other islands. Some among them have been partially civilised, and have settled 
in villages near the Chinese colonies, on the coast opposite to China. Those who have preserved their 
independence live in a state of perpetual revolt against the Chinese possessors of the island. They dwell 
eastward of the chain of mountains which divides the island in its whole course from north to south. 
This district has never been explored, and our knowledge of the people is very imperfect. They have 
no books, no written language, and apparently no ancient or fixed system of religion. They have no 
king or supreme ruler, but are governed bv a number of petty chieftains. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OE THE LANGUAGE. 

Formosa is the most northern point in which a dialect is spoken of that ancient and widely diffused 
language which pervades the islands of the South Sea. The southernmost boundary of this language 
is the south of New Zealand, the easternmost is Easter Island, and the western is Madagascar. There 
are only fifteen elemental sounds in this language, including all the dialects. Through some peculiarity 
in their organs of articulation, the people to whom this language is vernacular have rejected all strongly 
pronounced consonants, especially the sibilant: and have merged the majority of their words into pure 
vowel sounds. This habit, joined to the rule requiring every syllable to terminate with a vowel, and 
precluding the coalescence of two consonants, occasions the softness of sound for which all the dialects 
are remarkable. The grammatical system, like that of the Malayan, is particularly simple. Particles, as 
in that language, supply the place of inflection. The only real inflection of which a Polynesian verb 
is capable, is the reduplication of the whole or part of a verb to express repeated action. The "particles 
of form" give to the verb various shades of meaning, like the Hebrew conjugations; and by means of 
these suffixes, the same verb becomes, at the will of the speaker, causative, desiderative, reciprocal, or 
potential. In the conjugation of Polynesian verbs time is comparatively disregarded, but place is very 
accurately denoted: in this respect the Polynesian class of languages is strikingly analogous to the 
American, — the "directive particles," as in the Oregon and Cherokee languages, indicating the direction 
of the action, whether to or from the speaker, and " the locatives" designating the place where the 
action is performed. Another link of connection between these two classes of languages consists in 
their possessing a dual as well as a plural number, and two different forms of the first personal pronoun 
in each number; the one form including and the other excluding the person addressed. 

Two or three vocabularies have been collected of the Formosan dialect, which has an alphabet of 
its own, and the words have been proved to be of undoubted Polynesian origin. Some of the words 
nearly correspond with the Malayan dialect of the general tongue. 



Class V.] JAVANESE. 369 

III. — VERSION OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The only translation that has been made in this dialect was executed during the early part of the 
seventeenth century by the Dutch, who about that period introduced Christianity into the island. The 
Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John were translated by Daniel Gravius, a Dutch minister, and 
printed at Amsterdam with the Dutch version in 1661, it is believed at the expense of the Dutch East 
India Company. But before the printed copies could reach Formosa, the Dutch were driven from the 
island, and no subsequent opportunities have been afforded to place the translation in the hands of the 
natives. 



JAVANESE. 

FOE SPECIMEN OP THIS VERSION, see Plate 10, page 115. 
I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The island of Java is the most valuable of the Dutch possessions in the East. It lies south of Borneo, 
from which it is separated by the Sea of Java, and is divided from Sumatra by the Strait of Sunda. It 
measures about 660 miles from east to west; and from north to south it varies in breadth from 40 to 
130 miles, embracing an area of little less than 50,000 square miles English. 

The population of Java, according to the latest estimates, numbers upward of 11,000,000 indi- 
viduals; among whom are nearly 100,000 Chinese, besides Malays and Europeans. The natives to 
whom the Javanese dialect is vernacular number about 2,000,000. This dialect is the only general 
medium of communication in the civilised and populous part of the island, but Malay is spoken in 
every commercial and maritime place, and Madurese is the dialect of the eastern coast. The Sunda 
dialect is spoken in the west, near the Straits of Sunda, and prevails over the third part of the island ; 
but this district is thinly peopled, and the inhabitants do not form above a tenth of the entire popu- 
lation. The Madurese and Sunda people are but collateral branches of the great Polynesian stock, and 
their dialects do not differ in any important particular from the general tongue. The Javanese is 
generally employed among them as their only written language. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS DIALECT. 

Next to Malayan, Javanese, which is distinct from it, is the most polished and the most cultivated 
of Polynesian dialects, This superiority is principally due to the influence of Sanscrit or rather Pali 
literature; for Java was, at an early period, the asylum of expatriated Hindoos, who impressed their 
own refinement and civilisation on the people and the language of the island. The Javanese alpha- 
betical characters are derived from the Pali alphabet, but are not arranged on the same artificial system. 
Not less than fourteen of the Sanscrit or Pali consonants are wanting in the Javanese alphabet, and a 
stranger is most struck with the absence of/, v, and sh. Since A.D. 1400, when the Javanese embraced 
Mohammedanism, many Arabic words have been adopted, by which the native deficiency of the dialect 
in abstract terms has been in some measure supplied. This dialect is, however, copious to redundance 
in words expressive of the simple objects and actions of common life; it furnishes, for instance, so many 
different words precisely descriptive of the various postures of the body, that, as Mr. Crawfurd has 
remarked, an anatomist, a painter, or a sculptor might derive assistance from it: there are with this 
people ten different modes of standing, and twenty of sitting, and a distinct and specific appellation is 

25 



370 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 

appropriated to each. This copiousness in point of words is increased by there being two principal 
styles of language, called boso kromo and boso ngoho. The boso kromo is the higher style, used in 
addressing persons of superior rank, etc.; and the boso ngoho is the lower style, used in addressing 
persons of lower rank; it is also found sometimes in older writings, and in narratives, etc. These two 
different styles are, however, considerably intermixed. The Kawi is the ancient and learned language 
of Java, in which all the sacred and old civil annals are written. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN" THIS DIALECT. 

The preparation of a Javanese version was first suggested by Dr. Wm. Hunter, of Calcutta, in 
1812. Previous to that period no attempt had been made by the Dutch to effect such a translation, 
although they had long carried on a correspondence in Javanese with all the native courts except that 
of Bantam. On the formation of the Java Bible Society, in 1814, the subject of a Javanese translation 
was one of the first which came under the consideration of the committee ; but the language was found 
so difficult of acquirement to Europeans, particularly on account of the diversity of idiom between 
the familiar and the deferential style, that some time elapsed before an individual could be found 
qualified to undertake the work. At length the task was intrusted to the Rev. Gotlob Bruckner, a 
native of Germany, stationed as minister of the Dutch Church at Samarang. In 1820 he translated 
the Gospels, and three years afterwards he completed the first Javanese version of the New Testament. 
It was printed in 1831, in an edition of 2000 copies, at Serampore, for the Netherlands Bible Society, 
but partly at the expense of the translator, and with the aid of the parent Society. 

The translation of the Old Testament was undertaken by the Rev. Mr. Gericke, a missionary of 
the Netherlands Society, who is said to have entered into the spirit of the Javanese people more than 
any other European, and to have acquired a deep and thorough knowledge of their language, character, 
customs, and religious principles. In 1831 he completed a version of the Psalms, which he sent to 
Holland, to the Netherlands Society, for publication. This version was submitted by the Society to a 
learned Javanese then residing at the Hague, and he afforded the most gratifying testimony to the 
learning of Mr. Gericke, and the purity of the idiom in which the translation was made. 

A fresh translation of the New Testament has since been executed by Mr, Gericke, on the basis 
of the preceding version. The Gospel according to St. Matthew was printed at Delft about 1847; 
and in 1848 the translator returned to Holland, that the entire version of the New Testament might 
be printed under his personal inspection. The printing was conducted at the Hague, and was 
completed during the same year, Professor Roorda assisting in the correction of the proof sheets. 
Mr. Gericke afterwards returned to Java, and at once employed himself upon the version of the 
Old Testament. This work, under the auspices of the Netherlands Bible Society, has since happily 
been completed, and passed through the press. The entire Bible is now accessible in the Javanese 
tongue, and recent intelligence encourages the hope that in no long time happy effects may ensue from 
the dissemination of the Scriptures — both in the Javanese and the Malay languages — among the 
inhabitants of this very populous island, " I find the Javanese (writes a Malay teacher, engaged 
in one of the mission schools on the island, to Mr. Keasberry, in 1857,) are very anxious to hear the 
Gospel; they show no opposition, nor express any doubts as to the truth of the Word of God; on the 
contrary, they seem more and more desirous to know as much as they can of the contents of the Gospel, 
and compare it with their own books." 



Class V.] DAJAK. 371 

DAJAK. 

SPECIMEN, FKOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Intit solake aton Augh ta, maka Augh ta hindja, Hatalla, dan Augh ta aton Hatalla. 
2 la hindja Hatalla intu solake. 3 Talo handiai djari inampa awie, maka lapas bara ia, 
djaton djari inampa talo Idja, awang djari. 4 Huang ia aton pambelom, maka pambelom 
ta, aton blawa olon. 5 Dan blawa ta mandang intu kakaput, tapi kakaput djaton men- 
jambut ta. 6 Aton olo, idja injoho Hatalla, Johannes arae. 7 la ta duma mendjadi saksi, 
uka menjaksi akan blawa ta, nakara olo handiai pertjaja awi ia. 8 la djaton blawa ta, 
baja uka ia, menjaksi akan blawa ta. 9 Djeta blawa awang toto, idja memplawa gene- 
genep olo, idja, tama kalunen to. 10 la aton huang kalunen, dan kalunen djari inampa 
awie, tapi kalunen dia kasene ia. n la menale talo ajue, tapi oloajue djaton menduan ia. 
12 Tapi pira-pira, idja menduan ia, akan ia inenga kwasa awie mendjadi anak Hatalla, akan 
olo ta, idja pertjaja huang aran ajue. 13 Idja djari inakan, djaton awi daha, dia kea awi 
kahendak isi, dia kea awi kahendak olo hatua, tapi awi Hatalla. 14 Maka Augh ta men* 
djadi isi, dan melei dengan ikei, (maka ikei djari menampaja kahain ajue, kahaie, kilau 
awang ain Anak Bapa idja tonggal,) kontep asi tuntang katotohe. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The island of Borneo lies under the equator, and extends over eleven degrees of latitude, and the same 
number of degrees of longitude. With the exception of its sea border, it is still unexplored; for although 
several Europeans have endeavoured to penetrate into the inland parts, they have perished in the attempt. 
Hence little is known with certainty respecting the aboriginal inhabitants, who, for the most part, have 
been driven into the interior by the Malays, the Chinese, the Cambodians, the Bugis, and other nations, 
by whom the greater part of the sea coast is now occupied. The numerous tribes into which the natives 
are divided appear to have each a peculiar dialect ; yet in other respects they so closely resemble each 
other, that they are believed to have originally belonged to one and the same nation. They are called 
Idaan on the north-east coast; Biaju is their designation in the south-east; while in the northern and 
western parts of the island they are known to the Malays under the name of Dajak, or Dyak. Specimens 
of the principal dialects spoken among them have been collected by Sir James Brooke and Captain 
Keppel, and it has been ascertained beyond a doubt that these dialects collectively form a link in the 
great chain of Malayo- Polynesian languages. These tribes are supposed to belong to the Haraforan 
variety of mankind. A black or negrito race, distinct from them in person and language, and resem- 
bling the African negro, is said to exist in the most inaccessible parts of the interior. 

The Dajak language is closely allied to the Malay. It contains a great quantity of words which 
are identical with it; and in many other instances Malay words only change either their vowels or one 
of their consonants when spoken by the Dajaks. In other cases the similarity of Dajak words may 
be traced to other Malayo- Polynesian languages; such as the Madagasse, etc. 

In this language nouns have neither gender, number, nor case; and verbs have neither mood nor 
tense. The cases are, as in most other languages of this kind, supplied by prepositions; and the tenses 
are expressed by words prefixed; such as hard, akan, etc., for the future, djari, for the pluperfect or 
past in general, etc. As regards the pronouns, they are both separate and affixed. They are added 
(as e. g. hu, m, e,) to persons in verbs, and to substantives, and even to prepositions. Thus awi-e, 
through him or her; taicaug-hu, I know; njanaug-ku, my mouth, etc. This language is, moreover, 



372 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 

rich in prefixes, though simple in construction; and judging from some of its idiomatic expressions, it 
appears to possess much of the native elegance that is peculiar to nations accustomed to lead a natural 
and not an artificial life. For instance, watanandau (eye of day) the sun; tarimakasi (acknowledgment 
of a favour) gratitude ; djohonmata (sap of the eyes) tears, etc. In Dajak active verbs have men or mens, 
and passive ones in, prefixed to them. 

The country of the land Dajaks (so called to distinguish them from the water Dajaks who inhabit 
the shores) has been described as comprised between the river Pontiana, and a line drawn in the third 
degree of north latitude, till it intersects the course of that river. The Malays, who possess the coasts 
of this region, are a fierce and cruel people, and from time immemorial the Dajaks have been their 
bondsmen. In 1795, the land Dajaks numbered about 14,360 individuals; whereas in 1846 they were 
deduced in number by famine, sickness, and oppression, to 6,792. Their language, however, was said 
in 1847 to be spoken by 100,000 people. Those among them who have made any advances towards 
civilisation have embraced Mohammedanism ; the rest are thought to be idolaters, but their particular 
system of superstition has not been clearly explained. That their creed, whatever it may be, is of the 
most revolting nature, appears from their barbarous custom of possessing themselves of human heads; 
and a vast number of human beings have been sacrificed for the sake of these horrible trophies. 

III. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. 

A translation of the New Testament, for the spiritual enlightenment of the Dajaks, was commenced 
by the missionaries of the Rhenish Mission, in 1843. It was completed in 1846, and Mr. Hardiland, 
one of the missionaries, was deputed by his brethren to revise it, and to print an edition of 1500 copies, 
at the Cape of Good Hope. The expenses were defrayed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. 
This version is written in a dialect of the Dajak called Poelopetak, which prevails almost over the 
whole south side of Borneo. It is spoken by nearly 50,000 individuals; for although the district of 
Poelopetak itself contains but 10,000 inhabitants, the tribes of Patei, Dusson, Sampit, etc., who have 
their own dialects, are able to speak and understand the Poelopetak. This has arisen from the com- 
mercial intercourse existing between the people of Poelopetak and the other tribes. 

It has been found that this version is readily understood by all the natives who employ the Dajak 
dialect, and so eagerly were the copies sought after that the whole edition was exhausted within six 
years after its issue in the island. A new edition is urgently called for, and a revision of the text has 
been completed for the purpose. " We have abundant cause (wrote Mr. Hardiland in 1853) to bless 
the Lord, and to be of good courage, persuaded that He, who began the good work, will carry it on 
to a final and full triumph. Many hundreds have learned to read fluently, and are provided with New 
Testaments ; and we now reckon at our two stations in Poelopetak alone — we have, besides these, three 
stations in other parts of the country— at least 1000 scholars. Added to this, our services continue to 
be well attended, and the desire for baptism is on the increase." These gratifying symptoms have con- 
tinued to be manifested during the period that has since elapsed. 

The Prayer Book has been recently translated into Malay-Dajak, for use in Sarawak, by the 
Bishop of Labuan, and a lithographed edition, in the Arabic character, was executed at Singapore 
in 1857. 



B I M A. 

The Bima dialect is spoken in the east of Sumbawa, and the west of Endes, or Flores, two islands 
forming part of the Timorian chain, which extends nearly in a straight direction from the easternmost 
extremity of Java towards the western coast of New Guinea. Sumbawa Proper, which is generally 



Ciass V.] BATTA. 373 

considered a dialect of Biraa, is spoken in the portion of Sumbawa which is not subject to the Sultan 
of Bima, except in a small district called Tembora, in the north, where a negrito language prevails. 

The Bima differs from other Polynesian dialects chiefly in pronunciation. A vocabulary of Bima 
words was collated by Dr. Leyden with the corresponding terms in Bugis and Macassar, and it was 
found that many words are common to all these dialects. Dr. Leyden is also said to have commenced 
a Bima version of the Gospels, but he did not live to prepare the translation for the press. 



BATTA. 



Thk large island of Sumatra lies in a direction almost parallel with the peninsula of Malacca, from 
which it is separated by the strait of Malacca, but its southern extremity stretches out far beyond the 
peninsula, to the south-east. It measures about 1050 miles in length, and is divided by the equator 
into nearly equal portions. It contains many native states, of which the principal are the Malay 
country of Menankabo, Acheen, and Siak. The country of the Battas is included between the 
equator and two and a half degrees of north latitude ; it extends across the island from coast to coast, 
but is intersected in certain districts by Malay and Acheenese settlements. 

In 1820, the Battas were thought to number about 500,000 individuals. They are idolaters, and 
addicted to the most debased and revolting practices. In their name and in their customs they are so 
similar to the Padsei mentioned by Herodotus (book iii. 99), that it seems but reasonable to conjecture 
that they are the descendants of that people. We are assured by Dr. Leyden, on the authority of the 
Malays and of the Battas themselves, that one of their religious ceremonies consists in devouring 
the sick and aged. " When a man becomes infirm, and weary of the world, he is said to invite his 
own children to eat him, in the season when salt and limes are cheapest. He then ascends a tree, 
round which his friends and offspring assemble, and, as they shake the tree, join in a funeral dirge, the 
import of which is, 'The season is come; the fruit is ripe, and it must descend.' The victim descends, 
and those that are nearest and dearest to him deprive him of life, and devour his remains in a solemn 
banquet." 

In 1820, three Baptist missionaries were sent to labour among this deluded people. The Batta 
dialect is not difficult to acquire, being simple in construction like the Malayan, and resembling the 
Bugis more than any other tongue. It is written in a peculiar character, evidently derived from the 
Sanscrit. The first steps towards producing a Batta version of the New Testament were taken by 
Mr. Burton, who translated the Gospel of St. John. Sickness and local difficulties afterwards caused 
his departure from the island, and the total withdrawal of the mission. Mr. Ward, however, remained 
at his post, supporting himself by agriculture; and he not only compiled a dictionary containing, 
perhaps, 50,000 Batta words, but accomplished the important work of translating the entire New 
Testament. He met with no encouragement from the Dutch local authorities, for they are in general 
inimical to missions, and to all means of enlightening the people of the East that are subject to their 
sway : Mr. Ward's version, therefore, still remains unpublished. More recently there has, indeed, been 
reason to hope that the Battas will shortly be supplied with the Word of God; for, in 1849, Mr. H. 
Neubronner van der Tunk was sent by the Netherlands Bible Society to Sumatra, to learn the dialect 
of the Battas, and to proceed with the translation of the New Testament. The Gospel by St. John 
has been completed, and published by Muller of Amsterdam, 1859. 



374 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 



BUGIS AND MACASSAR. 

Several native states are comprised in the large island of Celebes, all of which, though possessing 
separate governments, are in some respects subject to the Dutch. Among the various dialects which 
prevail in these states, the Bugis and the Macassar are by far the most widely predominant, being 
spoken not only in the greater part of Celebes, but in the trading districts of several neighbouring islands, 
indeed, the Bugis may be said to be the chief language of the people of Celebes. In fact, next to the 
Malayan itself, these two dialects, especially the Bugis, are more extensively diffused than any other of 
the East insular languages, — a superiority which Mr. Marsden has justly observed is due partly to the 
geographical position of the island, and partly to the energetic character and commercial habits of the 
Bugis. 

The Macassar dialect is spoken in that part of Celebes which is comprised between Balu Kiimba 
and Segere; whereas, the Bugis extends over an extensive section of the island, from B6ni to Luwu. 
Both dialects resemble the Malayan and the Tagala language of the Philippines in construction; and 
they also exhibit some affinity with the ancient Tarnata of the Moluccas. The Bugis is considered by 
the Baron W. A. Humboldt to constitute the transition between the languages of the Malayan archi- 
pelago and those of the more eastern islands. It is the most eastern insular language possessing an 
alphabet peculiar to itself. The characters of this alphabet are remarkably neat in appearance, and 
belong to the same class as the Batta and Tagala alphabets. The Bugis people possess a certain degree 
of intellectual culture, for their songs and romances are celebrated in all the isles of the East; but in 
the interior and more uncivilised parts of the island cannibalism is prevalent among them, and they are 
said to make a practice of devouring their prisoners of war. 

The dialect of Macassar is even softer and more vocalic than the Bugis, but it is less cultivated 
and less copious, and its literature is more scanty. It has many words in common with the Bugis, but 
likewise many radical terms peculiar to itself. A translation of the Scriptures into both these dialects 
was commenced by Dr. Leyden, with the help of some learned natives, about the year 1810; but he 
only lived to complete a version of the Gospel of St. Mark in each dialect. His MSS. were presented 
to the Bible Committee at Calcutta, but have never been printed. In 1849, Dr. B. F. Matthes, sub- 
director of the Mission-house in Rotterdam, was sent by the Netherlands Society to Celebes, to study 
these dialects, with the view of preparing versions of the Bible for these long neglected people. We 
have no information respecting the progress of this undertaking. 



Class V.l HAWAIIAN. 375 



HAWAIIAN. 

SPECIMEN, EROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

1 kinohi ka Logou, rae ke Akua ka Logou, a o ke Akua no ka Logou. 2 Me ke Akua 
no hoi ia i kinohi. 3 Hanaia iho la na mea a pau e ia ; aole kekahi mea i hanaia i hana 
ole ia e ia. 4 Iloko ona ke ola, aoua ola la ka malamalama no na kanaka. 5 Puka mai 
la ka malamalama iloko o ka pouli, aole nae i hookipa ka pouli ia ia. 6 Hoounaia mai la 
e ke Akua kekahi kenaka, o Ioanne kona inoa. 7 Hele mai la oia i mea hoike, i hoike ai 
ia no ua malamalama la i manaoio ai na kanaka a pau ma ona la. 8 Aole no oia ka 
malamalama, aka ua hele mai ia e hoike i ka malamalama. 9 ka malamalama io, ka 
mea nana e hoomalamalama na kanaka a pau e hele mai ana i ke ao nei. 10 1 ke ao nei 
oia, a i hanaia keia ao e ia, aole nae ko ke ao nei i ike ia ia. n Hele mai la ia i kona iho, 
aole kona poe i malama ia ia. 12 Aka o ka poe i malama ia ia me ka manaoio i kona inoa, 
haawi mai la ia i ka pono no lakou e lilo ai i poe keiki na ke Akua. 13 ka poe i hanauia 
e ke Akua, aole na ke koko, aole na ka makemake o ke kino, aole hoi na ka makemake o 
ke kanaka. 14 Lilo mai la ka Logou i kanaka, a noho iho la me kakou a ike kakou, i 
kona nani, i ka nani o ka Hiwahiwa a ke Akua, ua piha i ka lokomaikai a me ka oiaio. 

The Sandwich Islands are an isolated group, lying just within the tropic of Cancer, far to the north 
of the Society and Marquesas Islands, and directly west of the coast of Mexico. They are about thirteen 
in number; but eight only are inhabited, and some of the others are mere islets. O'whyhee, or Hawaii, 
the largest island, is about 100 miles in length from north to south, and between 70 and 80 miles from 
east to west, embracing an area of 4,500 English square miles. 

The total population of the Sandwich Islands, according to a census taken in 1849, amounted to 
80,640 individuals, nearly one-third of whom were resident in O'whyhee. Their language very closely 
resembles those of Tahiti and New Zealand. It was first reduced to a written form by the American 
missionaries, who adopted the Roman letters, as the English missionaries had before done in reducing 
to writing the dialects of the more southern islands. The Hawaiian contains five vowels and but seven 
consonantal sounds, together constituting an alphabet of twelve letters. 

The Hawaiian dialect of the Polynesian language is closely allied to the Tahitian; to which, as to 
the model of the Polynesian tongue, it bears a closer affinity than any other idiom spoken in the islands 
of the Pacific. 

It is very rich in vowels; some words indeed contain no consonants, and whole sentences may be 
formed of vowels and diphthongs alone. Like its kindred idioms, it has no gender, case, or number, 
properly so called; but all words, whether nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc., are alike without inflections, 
according to our Western notions of the term, and their relative bearing and construction is formed by 
particles, in which the Polynesian tongue is extremely rich. There is, however, an indefinite article, 
ke, ka, and na, which together with mau, denotes the singular and plural, in like manner as e, mai, o, 
i, ke, etc., serve to distinguish the tenses of verbs. But those are distinct words or particles, which 
leave the root or noun itself in its original state, though connected with it. The personal pronouns 
have, like those of the four principal Polynesian dialects, and the Mantchoo language, a twofold dual 
and plural; that is, one which expresses at once whether the speaker includes himself or not among the 
persons to whom he alludes. The passive form of verbs is formed by the suffix particle ia, but the only 
traces of any kind of conjugation properly so called is found in the combination of verbs; as for instance : 



376 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 

ike, to see, ikeia, or ikea, to be seen, to appear, hoike, to cause to see, to show, hoikeia, to be made 
manifest, etc. In general the Hawaiian language is soft, simple, easy, and remarkably sonorous. 

The Hawaiian version of the Scriptures has been executed by American missionaries, and solely 
at the expense of the American Bible Society. The Gospel of St. Matthew, of which two translations 
were made by Mr. Bingham and Mr. Richards, was prepared for press in 1826; and, two years after- 
wards, a small edition of the Four Gospels was printed in 12mo. at Rochester, New York. The entire 
New Testament was first printed in 1833 in the Sandwich Islands, under the care of the missionaries, 
then twenty in number. A revised edition was published in 1837. During the same year, the 
translation of the Old Testament was completed, and portions, consisting in some cases of very small 
editions of separate books, were successively issued from the press. The first complete edition of the 
Bible appeared in 1839. Several large editions of both the Old and New Testaments have subsequently 
been printed. Before the Word of God was thus put into circulation, the inhabitants of this large and 
beautiful island-group were given up to barbarism and idolatry, and were utter strangers to the blessed 
influence of Christianity. Now churches, schools, and other evidences of civilisation, are to be seen 
at the numerous towns and villages, and an Auxiliary of the American Bible Society is in active 
operation among them. In 1856, the American Society published an edition of the New Testament in 
Hawaiian and English, printed in parallel columns. 



TAHITIAN. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

I vai na te Logo i te mataraua ra, i te Atua ra hoi te Logo, e o te Atua hoi te Logo. 
2 1 te Atua ra hoi oia i te matamua ra. 3 Na'na i hamani i te mau mea toa nei, aore roa 
e, e ere oia i te hoe mea i hamani hia. 4 Tei roto ia 'na te ora, e taua ora ra to te taata 
ia maramarama. 5 1 anaana mai na te maramarama i te pouri, aita ra te pouri i farii 
atu. 6 1 tono hia mai te hoe taata mai o mai i te Atua ra, o Ioane te ioa. 7 I haere mai 
taua taata ra ei ite, e faa ite i taua maramarama ra, ia faaroo te taata toa ia 'na. 8 E ere 
ra oia iho i taua maramarama ra, i haere mai ra e faa ite i taua maramarama ra. 9 Oia 
te maramarama man, o te haa maramarama mai i te taata toa i tona haerea mai i te ao 
nei. 10 1 te ao nei oia, e nana i hamani i teie nei ao; e aita to te ao i ite atu iana. n I 
haere mai nei oia i ona ihora, e aore tona ihora taata i ite atu ia 'na. 12 Te feia toa ra 
i ite atu ia 'na, i te faaroo raa i tona ra ioa, homaira oia i te maitai ra ia ratou ei tamarii 
na te Atua. 13 Te feia e ere to te toto i fanau ai ra, e ere hoi to te hinaaro o te tino, 
e ere hoi to te hinaaro o te taata, no te Atua ra. 14 1 riro mai nei te Logo ei taata e 
ua puhapa mai i o tatou nei (e ua ite matou i tona hanahana, mai hanahana e au i te 
Tamaiti fanau tahi a te Metua ra), ua i i te maitai e te parau mau. 

The extensive assemblage of islands in which the Tahitian dialect is spoken includes the Society or 
Leeward, and the Georgian or Windward, Isles, with the Low Islands, and the " Paumotu" or 
Dangerous Archipelago. These groups lie between lat. 14° and 25° S., and long. 135° and 152° W., 
and their collective population may amount to about 20,000. The largest of the islands is Otaheite, 
or, more properly, Tahiti, which is 108 miles in circumference, and contains 7000 inhabitants. 



Class V.] TAHITIAN. 377 

The other principal islands are Eimeo, Huahine, Raiatea, and Borabora. Tahitian is also spoken in the 
Austral Islands, a group lying south of those above mentioned, and containing about 1000 inhabitants. 

Tahitian is distinguished, even above its cognate dialects, by its tendency to soften and vowelise 
the various sounds which enter into the composition of words; this it effects partly by the omission of 
mute and the substitution of liquid consonants, and partly by the total disuse of those nasal articulations 
which are of such frequent occurrence in Malayan, Tagala, and other dialects of the western division 
of Polynesia. The Tahitians confound b and p, d and t, and can seldom, if ever, distinguish between 
these consonants. The alphabet adopted by the missionaries of the London Missionary Society, who 
first reduced the language to writing, is the Eoman. 

The Tahitian language is generally considered the most perfect type of all the Polynesian dialects. 
It is allied nearest to the dialect of the Marquesan Islands and of Hawaii; but it is still softer than 
they. It would appear as if Tahiti had been peopled before any other island of Polynesia properly so 
called: that from thence as from a centre, emigrants went to settle on the islands of the surrounding 
archipelago, as far as New Zealand; and that while the Polynesian language became more or less 
modified by the mode of life called for by the nature of the soil or of the climate, it remained in its 
primitive simplicity at Tahiti. 

Out of 434 words in Madagasse, compared with as many in Tahitian, 17 were found identical, 
126 nearly so, and the rest bearing some resemblance; showing evidently the connection that exists 
between the language of Madagascar, and the type of the Polynesian tongue properly so called, as it is 
spoken at Tahiti. 

The Scriptures have been translated into the Tahitian at the expense of the London Missionary 
Society, and by their missionaries. The principal translator was the Rev. Henry Nott, but Mr. Williams, 
and other missionaries stationed in the islands, aided in the work. Much assistance was also derived 
from native converts, particularly from King Pomare, who copied out several portions with his own 
hand; and, by his intimate acquaintance with the language, usages, and ancient institutions of the 
people, was able to suggest many important corrections. This monarch made a confession of faith in 
Jesus, in the year 1812, and ever afterwards manifested unwavering attachment to the profession of 
Christianity in the midst of persecution. Circumstances into which he was led towards the close of 
his life by association with designing persons, threw a stain upon his character, and cast a gloom over 
his mind, from which he never recovered; yet, though thus suffered to depart under a cloud, he 
enjoyed the consolations of the Gospel in his dying moments, and " Jesus Christ alone" were the last 
words he was heard to utter. 

The Tahitian version was made from the English Bible, with constant reference to the sacred 
originals. The Gospel of St. Luke was the first portion committed to the press; it appeared in 1818, 
and various other portions were successively printed till 1838, when the entire Bible was published in 
London, under the superintendence of the Rev. Henry Nott. Other editions followed, of which the 
most important, consisting of a revised edition of the entire Scriptures, was completed in London in 
1848. The revision was conducted by the Rev. Messrs. Howe and Joseph, and afterwards by the 
Rev. Mr. Moore, who r by long residence among the Tahitians, had become familiarised with their 
language and idioms; and it is satisfactory to know, that although these missionaries had enjoyed 
greater facilities in obtaining a critical knowledge of the Tahitian dialect than their predecessors, yet 
they found little that was necessary to alter in the pure idiomatic style of Mr. Nott's version. This 
revised edition, consisting of 5000 copies, was published solely at the expense of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, by whom other editions have been subsequently issued. The entire number of copies of 
the Scriptures printed by the Society, up to the close of 1859, included the following: — 
Bibles ....... 8,046 

Testaments ..... 13,114 

Pentateuch 3,030 

Gospels and Acts .... ... . 3,020 



378 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 

These copies have been received with great gladness, and many affecting instances are on record of the 
blessing of God having followed their perusal. One great benefit arising from their circulation has 
been, that the minds of the people have been thereby fortified against the errors of popery, of late years 
so zealously preached in these islands by Romish emissaries, particularly since the unhappy seizure of 
the islands by the French; and, notwithstanding the interdiction of fresh missionaries from England, 
and the prohibition of public preaching by the Protestant missionaries, and the efforts of the French 
priests to obtain converts, it is stated, in the last accounts that have reached us, that not one native 
Tahitian, as yet, has attempted to make a public confession of belief in the Roman Catholic system. 
Even at those stations which have been deprived of their missionaries, the work of instruction has been 
carried on by means of native agency. The interest of the people in the Scriptures (writes Mr. Howe, 
in 1857) is as vigorous as ever. Mr. Howe has been for some time past diligently engaged in the 
task of revising the Tahitian Scriptures, with a view to a new edition (the previous one being totally 
exhausted), and completed this important work in 1858, after two years of close application. Arrange- 
ments for printing the work have since been made by the London Missionary Society. 



RAROTOKGAN. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

I vai ana te Logo i muatangana, i te Atua ra oki te Logo, e ko te Atua oki te Logo. 
2 I te Atua ra oki aia i muatangana. 3 Nana i anga te au mea katoatoa, kare ua aia i 
ngere i tetai mea i angaia ra. 4 Tei roto iaia te ora, e taua ora ra, to te tangata ia marama. 
6 1 kaka mai ana te marama ki te poiri, kare r& to te poiri i ariki adu. 6 1 tonokia mai 
tetai tangata mei ko mai i te Atua ra, ko Ioane te ingoa, 7 1 aere mai taua tangata ra 
ei kite, ei akakite i taua marama ra, kia akarongo te tangata katoatoa iaia. 8 Kare ra 
aia i taua marama ra, i aere mai ra ei akakite i taua marama ra. 9 Koia te marama mou, 
ko te akamarama mai i te tangata katoa i tona aere anga mai ki te ao nei. 10 I te ao nei 
aia, e nana i anga teianei ao; kare ra to te ao i kite adu iaia. u I aere mainei aia i ona 
tikai, kare ra tona iti tangata tikai i kite adu iaia. 12 Te aronga katoa ra i kite adu iaia, 
i te akarongo anga i tona ingoa, o maira aia i te meitaki ia ratou ei tamariki na te Atua. 
13 Te aronga kare to te toto i anau ei ra, kare oki to te anoano o te kopapa, kare oki to 
te anoano o te tangata, no te Atua ra. 14 I riro mainei te Logo ei tangata, e kua buakapa 
mai kio matou nei, (kua kite matou i tona tabu, mai te tabu e tau i te Tamaidi anau tai 
a te Medua ra) kua ki i te meitaki e te tuatua muo. 

Raeotonga, the largest and most important of the Hervey Islands, lies between five and six hundred 
miles west of Tahiti, in lat. 21° 20' S., and long. 160° W. It was discovered by the Rev. John Williams 
of the London Missionary Society, in 1823. It is about thirty miles in circumference, and its inhabi- 
tants twenty years ago numbered between 6000 and 7000. Its present population does not exceed 
3500. The language of Rarotonga prevails throughout the other six islands of the Hervey group, the 
collective population of which may amount to 12,000 or 13,000: it also extends to the Maniki group, 
and as far as the Gambier Islands. It resembles the dialect of New Zealand more closely than any 
other, its chief distinguishing peculiarity being the rejection of the letter h; but in many instances it 



Class V.] RAROTONGAN. 379 

softens some of the harder articulations of the New Zealand dialect; and thus appears in closer affinity 
to the more simple Tahitian and Marquesan idioms. It is also so similar to the Tahitian that, when 
the missionaries first visited the Hervey Islands, they endeavoured for three years to convey Christian 
instruction to the natives through the medium of the Tahitian language ; but a distinct version of the 
Scriptures was afterwards ascertained to be necessary for each group. 

The preparation of the Earotonga version mainly devolved on the Rev. John Williams, aided by 
Messrs. Pitman and Buzacott of the London Missionary Society. The work occupied five years, and 
underwent five several revisions by each translator; Mr. Williams, who had laboured eighteen years 
among the Polynesian islanders, being the final umpire. Much assistance was received from the native 
chiefs and priests who had been converted to Christianity, particularly from a chief named Pa, who 
evinced great judgment and discrimination in the proper selection of terms. Where no native word 
could be obtained exactly corresponding in signification with the original, a Polynesian inflection was 
given to the Greek or English word; but, in general, the character of the Rarotonga dialect admitted 
of a very close and literal adherence to the text. The translation was made from the Tahitian version ; 
but the original texts and the principal commentators were diligently consulted. The Gospel of 
St. John and the Epistle to the Galatians were printed in 1830; and in 1836 an edition of 5000 copies 
of the New Testament was published in London under the superintendence of the Rev. John Williams, 
and at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. This was followed in 1842 by a second 
edition of 5000 copies of the New Testament, printed at the expense of the same Society. In 1840, 
funds were granted by this Society towards printing portions of the Old Testament : the book of Genesis 
and the Psalms wei'e printed in 1845, and the remaining books were at the same period in a state of 
preparation for the press. But in a devastating storm which occurred the following year, the chapels, 
school-houses, and dwelling-houses of these islands were laid in ruins, the MSS. of the version were 
defaced, and the progress of the edition greatly retarded. Shortly after the catastrophe, Mr. Buzacott 
returned to England for the purpose of printing the edition of the Old Testament in London. For 
seven years he had been engaged, in concert with the other missionaries, in a careful revision of the 
Rarotonga version; and on his arrival in London he devoted his time to the prosecution of the 
same work, under the valuable superintendence of the Rev. Thomas Meller. An edition of 5000 copies 
of the entire Scriptures, from this revised version, was completed in 1851, at the expense of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society. In 1852, Mr. Buzacott was enabled to return to Rarotonga (after an absence 
of more than five years) carrying with him this invaluable supply of the revealed Word. The ardent 
delight manifested by the. islanders of Rarotonga and other members of the Hervey group, at the arrival 
of the missionary ship " John Williams," which bore the precious freight, is described in affecting and 
interesting terms by those who witnessed it. A subsequent edition of 5000 copies was rendered necessary 
in 1854, so eagerly had the Rarotongan islanders availed themselves of the means afforded them for 
becoming acquainted with the Word of Life. This second edition is now in course of circulation. 

The good effects of reading this version have already appeared. The change thereby produced 
in the state and character of the natives of Rarotonga has been thus described by the martyred Williams : 
— " In 1823 I found them all heathens; in 1834 they were all professing Christians. At the former 
period I found them with idols and maraes; these, in 1834, were destroyed. I found them without a 
written language, and left them reading in their own tongue the wonderful works of God." 



380 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V> 



MARQUESAS. 

The Marquesas or Washington group forms a cluster of islands situated about nine degrees south of 
the equator, at a distance of 900 miles north-east of Tahiti. The largest of these islands is not above 
half the size of Tahiti, and it is questionable whether the population of the entire cluster exceeds 20,000. 
In manners and customs, and in national traditions and superstitions, these islanders, as might be 
expected from the proximity of situation, resemble the Tahitians, but they ate a far more barbarous 
people than their southern neighbours, and before the introduction of Christianity were addicted to 
cannibalism, and to many flagitious and inhuman practices. Their language is nearly identical with 
that of Tahiti, but the pronunciation is still more liquid. 

The Marquesan dialect is more closely allied to the Tahitian than to any other: indeed one 
grammar may do for both. Like the Tahitian the Marquesan has not the nasal ng; nor yet I or r, 
letters which, it may be noticed, are often interchanged not only in the Polynesian idioms, but also in 
many languages of Asia; such as the Tamil, which combines the two liquids in one letter; and the 
Japanese, which pronounce one or the other only, in districts bordering on one another. In Marquesan, 
as in other purely Polynesian dialects, such as the Tahitian, Hawaiian, Rarotonga, and New Zealand, 
there are no sibilants, which are, however, found in Tonga and Feejeean, idioms that in some respects 
deviate from the Polynesian type properly so called. The place of the Marquesan and Tahitian dialects 
among other Polynesian idioms is between that of Hawaii and that of New Zealand; the former the 
poorest, the latter the richest of those dialects. 

Various efforts have been made at different intervals since the year 1797 to proclaim the glad 
tidings of the Gospel in these islands. For many years these attempts were rendered abortive by the 
ferocity and savage obduracy of the natives. At length, in 1834, the Rev. Messrs. Rodgerson, 
Stallworthy, and Darling, agents of the London Missionary Society, met with some encouragement in 
their endeavours to instruct the people, and reclaim them from idolatry. Mr. Darling devoted himself 
to the translation of the Scriptures, or rather to the adaptation of the Tahitian version to the Marquesan 
dialect. The Gospels of St. John and St. Luke have been completed, and other portions of the New 
Testament are either ready for the press or in a state of preparation. But we have no recent information 
respecting the progress of evangelisation in these islands, which were taken possession of by France a 
few years since, and are for the present closed to the labours of the Protestant missionary. 






Class V.] TONGAN. 381 

TONGAN. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Nae i he tubuaga ae folofola, bea nae ihe Otua ae folofola bea koe Otua ae folofola. 
2 Ko ia ia nae i he tubuaga moe Otua. 3 Nae gaohi eia ae mea kotoabe bea nae ikai 
gaohi ha mea e taha aia kuo gaohi kae iate ia be. 4 Nae iate ia ae nioui bea koe moui 
koe mama ia oe tagata. 5 Bea oku ulo ae mama ihe bouli ka nae ikai ilo ia ehe bouli. 
6 Nae ai ha tagata kuo fekau mei he Otua ko Ioane hono higoa. 7 Nae hau ia koe 
fakamooni ke fakamooni ki he mama koeuhi ke tui iate ia ae kakai kotoabe. 8 Nae ikai 
koe mama ko ia ia ka nae fekau ia ke fakamooni ki he mama koia. 9 Koe mama mooni 
ia aia oku ne fakamama ae tagata kotoabe oku hau ki mamani. 10 Nae i mamani ia bea 
nae gaohi eia a mamani ka nae ikai ilo ia e mamani. n Nae hau ia ki hono kakai ka nae 
ikai mau ia e hono kakai. 12 Ka ko kinautolu nae mau ia naa ne tuku kiate kinautolu ae 
malohi ke nau hoko koe fanau ae Otua ko kinautolu nae tui ki hono huafa. 13 Aia nae 
fanaui ka nae ikai ihe toto be i he kakano be i he loto oe tagata ka ihe Otua, 14 Bea nae 
hoko ae folofola koe tagata bea nofo iate kitautolu bea nas mau mamata ki hono naunau 
koe naunau oe toko taha be nae fakatubu ehe tamai oku fonu ihe ofa moe mooni. 

The Tongan archipelago is composed of upwards of a hundred and fifty little islands, many of which 
are uninhabited, lying between lat. 18" and 23° S., and long. 173° and 176° W. The islands are 
disposed in three separate groups or clusters, called the Tonga, the Hapai or Haabai, and the Vavau 
groups. Since 1845, they have all been under the dominion of one king, chosen by the chiefs of the 
different islands: their collective population is estimated at from 20,000 to 30,000, The name of 
" Friendly Isles" was given to this assemblage of islands by Captain Cook, on account of the courteous 
deportment and supposed friendliness of the natives; but further acquaintance with this treacherous and 
vindictive people led to the discovery of their real character. " Theft, revenge, rape, and murder (it 
is stated in Mr. Mariner's narrative) are not under many circumstances considered crimes among them ; 
and in the examination of their language we discover no native words essentially expressive of moral 
qualities, as virtue, justice, and humanity." Of late years they have been induced to reject the 
debasing system of superstition by which they have been enslaved; many among them have made at 
least an outward profession of Christianity, and a great change has been thus induced in their moral 
and mental condition. 

One dialect pervades the whole assemblage of islands; it resembles in several respects the western 
idioms of this stock, and possesses some peculiarities in common with the Malayan, which have no 
existence in Hawaiian or the dialects of the neighbouring islands. It is more especially distinguished 
from the Tahitian by the use of the consonant k, and of the nasal ng. It possesses close affinity with 
the Samoan dialect, and in many instances there is an identity of orthography, pronunciation, and 
meaning between Tongan and Samoan words. There is on the other hand a great dissimilarity 
between the Tongan and Feejeean dialects: for while a Tonga man can acquire with ease, and speak 
Avith fluency, the Samoan dialect, it is with extreme difficulty that he can obtain a competent know- 
ledge of the Feejeean tongue; and there are some Feejeean sounds which can scarcely be pronounced 
by natives of Tonga. Considered as the language of a people formerly altogether ignorant of letters, 
the Tongan dialect may be said to be copious. Words descriptive of minute objects abound almost to 
redundancy; and not only can terms be found to designate every sensible object, but also to express 



382 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 

the powers and operations of the mind: so that the missionaries have readily selected suitable terms 
for the various points of Christian theology. 

The Tonga dialect differs in some other respects from some other Polynesian idioms. It has the 
nasal articulation ng; and seems in some few instances to borrow the sibilant s from the Feejeean, and 
knows not some of the consonants in common use in other islands. It changes the r and the d of the 
New Zealand into 7; and it articulates strongly the f. In other respects its grammar is mainly the 
same as that of the other Polynesian dialects; it has a twofold dual and plural for personal pronouns; 
and is equally destitute of case, gender, and number, properly so called. It is a rougher idiom than 
either the Tahitian or the Marquesan. 

The largest of the Friendly Islands is Tonga, or Tongataboo, which is sixty miles in circumference, 
and which in 1850 was estimated to contain 9000 inhabitants. Considerably more than half of these 
had been converted to Christianity, the Protestants among them numbering 5000, and the Roman 
Catholics 600 members. 

Nine missionaries were sent to the Island of Tonga by the London Missionary Society in 1797, 
but they found it impossible to remain, and many subsequent efforts for the introduction of Christianity 
were rendered equally abortive by the ferocious disposition of the natives. The agents of the Wesleyan 
Missionary Society were at length enabled in 1826 to settle peaceably in Tonga, and they now extend 
the blessings of Christian instruction to all the islands of this archipelago. In 1832 they had translated 
detached portions of Scripture into Tongan, and had multiplied copies in writing; aid was then 
aflbrded by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and several consecutive chapters from the Gospel of 
St. John and book of Genesis, with some of the Psalms, were committed to the press. Further assis- 
tance was afterwards granted by the same Society; and in 1845 the missionaries were proceeding with 
the printing of other portions of this version. At length, about the year 1847, the version of the New 
Testament was completed, and an edition of 4000 copies left the mission-press at Vavau. A revision 
of this work, and the translation of the Old Testament, have since been in progress, and appear from 
recent accounts to be rapidly approaching completion, the various portions, as they are finished, being 
issued from the Vavau press. The translation of the New Testament was chiefly drawn from the 
English version, but many passages were translated immediately from the Greek; for the missionaries 
found, in several instances, that the meaning of the inspired original could be rendered more literally, 
and with less circumlocution, in Tongan than in English. In 1852, at the request of the Committee 
of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, the British and Foreign Bible Society undertook to furnish an 
edition of 10,000 copies of the Tongan New Testament. The sheets passed through the press under 
the joint supervision qf thp Rev. G. Kevern, of Pontypool (formerly a missionary in the Tonga Islands), 
and the Rev. T. W. Meller. The rapid circulation of this edition (completed in 1853) has rendered it 
desirable that another, of like extent, should be undertaken, and this is now in progress (1860). 

Concerning the direct results of the dissemination of the Tongan version of the Scriptures, we 
have the following testimony from the Rev. Walter Lawry, who, in speaking of the converted natives, 
said, " There is among them a conformity of heart and life to the Christianity of the New Testament, 
surpassing all that I have elsewhere seen, and such as it is truly gratifying to witness. In passing up 
and down among them, I often ask myself, 'What but the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ could have 
produced such a change in this once deeply-polluted people?'" Mapy interesting circumstances con- 
nected with the improved social and moral condition of the inhabitants will be found in the narrative 
of a visit to Tonga by Captain Keppel, in H. M. ship Mseapder, in 1850. The recent Reports of the 
Wesleyan Society supply numerous highly interesting details. " Christianity (it is remarked in the 
Report for 1856) having been for years firmly established in the Friendly Islands, we have no longer 
to speak of the triumphs of the Gospel over heathenism in this group; but it is satisfactory to know 
that the cause of truth still prospers among this people." 



Class V.] NEW ZEALAND. 383 



NEW ZEALAND. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

I te timatanga te Kupu, a i te Atua te Kupu, ko te Atua ano hoki taua Kupu. 2 1 
te Atua ano tenei Kupu i te timatanga. 3 Nana nga mea katoa i hanga; a kahore tetahi 
mea i kore te hanga e ia o nga mea i hanga. 4 I a ia te ora; a ko te ora te maramatanga 
mo nga tangata. 5 1 roto i te pouri te Maramatanga e whiti ana ; heoi kihai i mau i te 
pouri, 6 1 tonoa mai he tangata e te Atua, ko Hoani tona ingoa. 7 1 haere mai ia hei 
kai whakaatu, hei whakaatu mo te Maramatanga, kia meinga ai e ia nga tangata katoa 
kia whakapono. 8 Ehara ia i taua Maramatanga, engari hei kai whakaatu mo taua 
Maramatanga. 9 Ko te Maramatanga pono tera, e marama ai nga tangata katoa e haere 
mai ana ki te ao. 10 1 te ao ia, i hanga ano e ia te ao, a kihai te ao i mohio ki a ia. u I 
haere mai ia ki ona, a kihai ona i manako ki a ia. 12 Tena ko te hunga i manako ki a 
ia, i tukua mai e ia ki a ratou nga tikanga e meinga ai ratou hei tamariki ma te Atua, 
ki te hunga hoki e whakapono ana ki tona ingoa : 13 Ki te hunga ehara nei i te toto, 
ehara i te hiahia o te kikokiko, ehara i te hiahia o te tangata, engari na te Atua ratou i 
whanau ai. u A i whakakikokikotia te Kupu, a noho ana i a matou, (a i kite ano matou 
i tona kororia, he kororia e rite ana ki to te tamaiti ko tahi a te Matua,) ki tonu i te 
aroha noa me te pono. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

New Zealand, the nearest considerable land to the antipodes of Britain, consists of a group of islands 
lying in the South Pacific, to the eastward of Australia and Van Diemen's Land- From the nearest 
point of the Australian continent it is separated by a distance of 1150 miles, and from Van Diemen's 
Land by upwards of 900 miles. The group embraces two large islands — called respectively North 
Island and Middle Island — with a third of smaller dimensions, lying to the southward of the 
others, and named South or Stewart Island, besides many adjacent islets. The two larger islands are 
separated by the channel of Cook's Strain The superficial extent of the entire archipelago is about 
99,500 English square miles. 

Since the year 1840, New Zealand has been a recognised possession of the British crown. Settle- 
ments have been made at several places on the shores of both the larger islands — the six principal of 
them being Auckland (the seat of government for the entire colony), New Plymouth, and "Wellington 
— on the North Island; with Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago, on the Middle Island. The settlement 
of Canterbury was established so lately as 1850, and was organised strictly as a Church colony. The 
Otago settlement (founded in 1*847) consists chiefly of natives of Scotland. 

In 1858, the colonial population of New Zealand numbered about 61,000, and at the present time 
(1860) probably exceeds 80,000. The native population is estimated at little more than 70,000, show- 
ing a very considerable decrease within recent years — the number having formerly been calculated at 
more than double that amount. The native population of New Zealand — like the Polynesian races 
in general — is diminishing, and at a rate which, unless circumstances should arise to check it, promises 
at no distant period its extinction as a distinct race. 

The Maori dialect differs only from the Tahitian in the interchange of certain consonants; and a 
native of Tahiti, immediately on landing for the first time in New Zealand, is capable of conversing 



384 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [.Class V. 

with the inhabitants. Even a native of Hawaii can render himself intelligible in New Zealand, 
although the two islands are between sixty and seventy geographical degrees apart, and the respective 
inhabitants bad no communication with eacb other before the period of European discoveries. 

The New Zealand or Maori language is the most cultivated of all the Polynesian dialects. It is 
richer in sounds, and more copious in expression, than any of the others; although the main features 
of its grammatical construction agree with the general outline of Polynesian idiom. 

In tbe Northern Island of New Zealand alone, there are seven principal dialects; i.e. the Rarawa, 
Ngapuhi, Wackato, Bay of Plenty, East Cape and Rotama, Port Nicholson and Wanganui, and Mokau: 
but the Wackato dialect is reckoned the purest. The New Zealand language has five vowels, eight 
consonants, and the nasal sound ng; and like the Tonga dialects, etc., it also possesses the twofold dual 
and plural forms of personal pronouns. In general, it is a sonorous and energetic tongue; which forms 
the extreme division of the Polynesian dialects to the southward. 

II. — VERSION OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. 

The attention of the Church Missionary Society was early directed to New Zealand by the repre- 
sentations of the Rev. Samuel Marsden, senior chaplain of the colony of New South Wales; three 
missionaries from this Society effected a landing in New Zealand in 1814, and, after reducing tbe 
language to writing, they commenced a translation of the Scriptures. In 1831, the Rev. Mr. Yate 
spent upwards of six months in New South Wales, occupied in carrying through the press the first 
publication in the Maori dialect; it consisted of 117 closely printed pages, containing selections from 
the Scriptures, the Liturgy and Catechism of the Church of England, and Hymns. This attempt 
proved so successful, that in 1832 Mr. Yate printed 180Q copies of the Gospels of St. Matthew and 
St. John, the Acts, the Epistle to the Romans, and the first Epistle to the Corinthians: paper was 
provided for this purpose by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The translation of the entire New 
Testament occupied seven years in preparation, and during this period it underwent several revisions, 
in which all the agents of the Church Mission assisted; but the principal translator was Mr. Yate. 
This version was drawn immediately from the Greek original, and is accounted a very literal and 
idiomatic translation. Although it was completed in 1835, the first edition did not appear till 1840, 
when 5000 copies were printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. A second 
edition, consisting of 20,000 copies, was printed by the same Society in 1842, and a third, of the like 
extent, in 1844. More recently, an impression of 15,000 copies of the Maori New Testament has been 
completed, under the revision of Archdeacon (now Bishop) Williams and the Rev. T. W. Meller. 
This swells the total amount (including portions of the Old Testament, as referred to below) to 
118,930 copies of portions of the Word of God, which had, up to the close of 1858, been placed by 
means of the British and Foreign Bible Society in the hands of the natives of New Zealand. 

The first portion of the Old Testament committed to the press in the Maori tongue was the Psalter, 
of which 20,000 copies were published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1848. This edition 
was printed by permission of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge from the Psalter forming 
a part of the New Zealand Common Prayer Book, then in course of publication by that Society; the 
translation being conformed to the Bible version of the Psalms. In the same year, the Bible Society 
undertook an edition of 10,000 copies of the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua, in Maori. A suc- 
ceeding portion of the Old Testament Scriptures, from Judges to Psalms inclusive, from a translation 
made by the Rev. Mr. Maunsell, a resident missionary in New Zealand, was printed by the Society in 
1855; the edition consisting of 5000 copies. Mr. Maunsell has since sedulously devoted himself to the 
task of completing the translation of the remaining portions of the Old Testament into Maori, a work 
which, by divine grace, lie has been permitted to accomplish. " The whole Word of God is now (he 

wrote in 1856) in Maori I have, through God's great goodness, been spared to assist in the 

revision of the New Testament and Prayer Book, and to finish an original translation of the Old 
Testament." 



Class V.] NEW ZEALAND. 385 

This great work has now, by the blessing of God, received its fitting consummation, an edition of 
5000 copies of the concluding portion (from Proverbs to Malachi) having been completed in London 
(under the careful superintendence of the present Bishop of Wellington) in 1858, at the cost of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society. Another triumph will thus be gained to the cause of truth. " If 
(said his Excellency the Governor of New Zealand, in 1857, at a meeting of the Auckland Auxiliary) 
any of the three hundred gentlemen who met at the London Tavern early in this century, to form a 
Society for distributing the Bible, had ventured to predict that in fifty years a branch of it would spread 
over the antipodes, his hearers would have smiled incredulously; but if he had added that two-thirds of 
that fierce race of cannibals, known \,o Englishmen only by Captain Cook's report, would by that time 
be converted to Christianity — that they would receive the Bible translated into their own language — and 
that in those unknown islands alone 1500 copies of the Bible would be distributed in one year by 
this branch of the Society — he would have been regarded as a speculative enthusiast. That such 
wonders have come to pass we are living witnesses, and that we are so, must be a subject of congratu- 
lation and a cause of thankfulness to us all." 

III. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

The Maori Testament has proved a powerful weapon against popery, and has been known in 
several instances to have been the means of enabling the converted natives to withstand the insinuations 
of Romish emissaries. So deeply, indeed, is this felt by the agents of the Koman Catholic Church, 
that they were said some time since to be preparing a translation of their own in this dialect. The 
district of Hokianga, at which Romish priests had been stationed for the previous twelve years, was 
at length abandoned by them in despair; they having been unable, during the entire period, to succeed 
in making the smallest permanent impression on the native population ! 

The greater number of the New Zealanders, formerly cannibals and gross idolaters, are now 
walking in the light of truth, and, although some disappointment, as is natural to all human efforts, 
may have been experienced, yet the recent reports received from this highly interesting region 
contain much that is encouraging. " Several of the chiefs (writes the Rev. J. Warren, to the 
Wesleyan Missionary Society, in 1851) have within the last few months renounced heathenism, and 
are diligently endeavouring to learn to read the sacred Scriptures. I believe the Spirit of the Lord is 
powerfully at work on many of their hearts." The testimony of the Rev. Mr. Puckey, of Kaitaia, 
to the blessed results of the diffusion of the Scriptures among the native population in this distant 
part of the world is strikingly interesting. " Europeans say that they think the New Zealanders 
a very tame and inoffensive people. So they are; but they should have come to live among 
them thirty years ago, before the influence of the Gospel manifested itself. I remember to have 
been in bodily fear for a month at a time, and was not sure of my life for half an hour; but the case is 
vastly different now. The Saviour is loved by many hundreds, and God is worshipped in spirit and 
in truth." — "You will rejoice to hear (says the Rev. R. Burrows, in 1859) that the Word of God is 
still read and prized by many of our native converts." 



as 



386 POLYNESIAN OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 



MALAGASSE. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Tamy ny taloha ny Teny, ary ny Teny tamy n'Andriamanitra, ary Andriamanitra 
ny Teny. - Izy tamy n'Andriamanitra tamy ny taloha. 3 Izy nanava'ny ny zavatra 
rehetra ; ary raha tsy izy, tsy nisy nanaova'ny izay efa natao ny. 4 Tao amy ny ny 
fiainana ; ary ny fiainana no nahazava ny olona. 5 Ary ny mazava mahazava ao amy 
ny maizina ; fa ny maizina tsy nahasarona azy. 6 Nisy lehilahy nirahin' Andriamanitra, 
i Jaony no anara'ny. 7 Izy avy 'mba ho fanambarana hanambara ny Mazava, 'mba ham- 
pinoa'ny ny olona rehetra. 8 Tsy izy izany Mazava izany, fa nirahi'ny 'mba hanambara 
ny Mazava. 9 Izy ny Mazava marina, izay mahazava ny olona rehetra avy amy ny izao 
tontolo izao. 10 Izy tamy ny izao tontolo izao, ary izy no nanava'ny izao tontolo izao, 
ary izao tontolo izao tsy nahalala azy. u Izy tonga tany amy ny, fa ny any amy ny, 
tsy nampandroso azy. 12 Fa izay nampandroso azy, dia nome'ny ny hery ho tonga 
zanak' Andriamanitra, dia izay mino ny anara'ny : 13 Izay tsy natera-dra, na ny fankasi- 
trahany ny nofo, na ny fankasitraky ny olona, fa ny an' Andriamanitra. u Ary ny 
Teny natao ny ho nofo, ary izy nonina tamy 'ntsikia, (ary izahay nahita ny voninahi'ny, 
izay no voninahitra takaky ny lahy tokana ny Ray) feno fahasoavana sy fahamarinana. 

Madagascar lies at a distance of 240 miles off the east coast of Africa, from which it is separated 
by the channel of Mozambique. This island is considerably larger than the whole of France: 
it comprises an area of 234,400 square miles, and measures 930 miles in length, by about 300 in 
breadth. The inhabitants number between 4,700,000 and 5,000,000 individuals: though at present 
comprehended under one rule (that of the Hovahs), and forming in this respect one nation, it is evident 
from their physical conformation that they are descended from different stocks, some among them 
resembling in person and appearance the Malayan race of Polynesia, while others possess the black skin 
and woolly hair of the negrito race. The religion is a rude species of polytheistic idolatry, and the 
monarch is the high-priest as well as the despotic ruler of his subjects. 

It is a singular fact that the Malagasse dialect exhibits a closer affinity to the dialects of the small 
islands off the coast of Sumatra, especially Nias, than to those of the islands in its more immediate 
vicinity. To the languages of the opposite coast of Africa it bears no resemblance whatever. It is 
very similar in construction to Tagala, the most perfect of Polynesian dialects, and many grammatical 
forms which exist only in part even in Tagala, are found entire in Malagasse. 

At a very remote period a migration seems to have taken place from the peninsula of Malacca 
and the island of Sumatra, both westward and eastward. Those men carried with them their language 
and traditions, to Madagascar in the extreme west, and among the islands of the Pacific in the east. 
Hence the great similarity of the various languages of the Malay o- Polynesian nations; similarity so 
great as to justify us in terming those languages, in the aggregate, one family. 

Among these the Malagasse is said by many philologists to be the parent of the whole tribe of 
dialects; but more probably, as others think, the original language properly so called is now lost, and 
the Malagasse is only one branch of it, as the Polynesian is another, both diverging from their common 
centre in the Malayan islands and peninsula. 



Class V.] MALAGASSE. 387 

The grammar of the Malagasse is like that of the Polynesian dialects in its main outline. It has 
five vowels, and all the consonants of the English alphabet except c, q, w, x ; j being pronounced 
like dz, and u like io : it is deficient in case, gender and number, properly so called. It is like its 
allied dialects, sonorous and soft; and not wanting in power and energy of expression. The language 
is, with few exceptions, spoken alike throughout the island of Madagascar. 

A comparison of the Malagasse with the Malay and the other Polynesian dialects, gives the 
following results of identity : — 

In 728 Malagasse words compared with as many Malayan, 21 were found identical. 

In 709 compared with as many Maori ones the identical were 16. 

In 725 compared with the Tonga, the identical words were 17. 

In 434 compared with the Tahitian, the identical words were 17. 

In 182 compared with the Hawaiian, the identical words were 21. 
On the other hand — 

In 716 Malay words compared with the Maori, 14 were found identical. 

In 649 compared with the Tonga, there were 16. 

In 443 compared with the Tahitian, there were 14. 

In 242 compared with the Hawaiian, there were 16. 
This proportion, although perhaps not perfectly accurate, may serve as a guide to the relative 
connexion of these languages. 

Several attempts have been made by the French, but without success, during the last two centu- 
ries, to colonise this island. Their efforts have never been directed towards the translation of the 
Scriptures into this dialect; but Flacourt in his History of Madagascar gives a version of the Lord's 
Prayer, and of what he calls the Ten Commandments, from which the second commandment is excluded. 
The Gospel was not proclaimed to the people of Madagascar till 1818, when the Rev. Messrs. Jones 
and Bevan were sent to labour among them by the London Missionary Society. The translation of 
the Old and New Testaments occupied the greater part of the time of the missionaries during eleven 
years. The three principal translators were Messrs. Jones, Griffiths, and Johns. The New Testament 
was completed in 1825, and after passing thrice through the process of revision, 1500 copies of the 
Gospel of St. Luke were printed in 1828, and 3000 copies of the Testament in 1830, on paper furnished 
by the British and Foreign Bible Society. In 1832, 800 copies of the Old Testament, as far as the 
first book of Samuel, and 3000 copies of the Psalms, were printed in Madagascar ; and on Mr. Baker's 
visit to this country the following year, the British and Foreign Bible Society printed under his 
superintendence a second edition of the Psalms, consisting of 5050 copies. This was followed in 1835 
by an edition of 10,000 New Testaments, and of 5000 copies of the books of Genesis, Proverbs, 
Isaiah, and the Psalms, published by the Society in London. During the same time the whole of the 
Old Testament was being printed in successive portions in Madagascar; and it seems a special 
indication of the blessing of God upon this version, that at the very period of the cruel persecution 
of Christians in this island, circumstances were so ordered that the missionaries were enabled 
for a time to remain unmolested, and continue their labours until the completion of this important 
translation. 

The history of this persecution, which lasted for a period of seventeen years (1834-51), and is one 
of the most remarkable of modern times, is unstained by the record of a single instance of apostasy. 
Many of the native Christians were called to suffer imprisonment and confiscation of property, while 
others were permitted to seal their testimony with their blood. God so upheld the faith and patience 
of his servants in the hour of trial, and so sustained them by the consolations of the sacred volume, 
that they looked at terrors without dismay, and emulated the examples of the confessors and martyrs 
of primitive ages. During the whole period that the edicts against Christianity remained in force, and 
while death was the legal penalty of an open confession of faith in Jesus, the number of believers in 
the divine word still increased; and, even while no missionaries were allowed to remain on the island, 



388 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 

the converted natives read the word of God in secret, and continued to meet privately for worship, 
often assembling for this purpose on the mountains or in caves. A Malagasse church was at the same 
time planted in Mauritius, consisting of those who had been compelled, on account of their belief in 
the Christian religion, to flee from their native island. 

The Eevs. Messrs. Freeman and Jones (formerly missionaries in Madagascar) had, in anticipation 
of the day when they might be enabled to resume their labours, employed themselves since their return 
to England in the complete revision of the Malagasse Scriptures. This revision has been accomplished, 
and, in the immediate prospect (through political changes) of the island becoming again open to the 
efforts of the Christian missionary, it was recently determined by the British and Foreign Bible Society 
to print an edition of 5000 copies of the Malagasse Bible from the revised MS. This work was accord- 
ingly commenced, under the editorial care of the Eev. Mr. Griffiths (formerly a missionary in the 
island) with the aid of the Kev. T. W. Meller; but, after advancing as far as the completion of the 
New Testament, with the Old Testament as far as the 10th chap, of Judges, it has been deemed 
advisable to suspend further progress — there appearing, on later inquiry, to be little probability of any 
immediate opportunity for its distribution in the island. The revision of the text had advanced as far 
as the end of Job. 



8AMOAN. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Sa i le amataga le Lokou, sa i le Atua le Lokou, o le Atua foi le Lokou. 2 O ia 
foi sa i le Atua i le amataga. 3 Na ia faia mea uma lava ; e leai foi se mea e tasi sa 
fai e lei faia e ia. 4 O ia te ia le ola ; a le ola foi lea, o le malamalama o tagata. 5 Ua 
pupula mai foi le malamalama i le pouliuli, a e lei tali atu i ai e le pouliuli. 6 Ua auina 
mai, mai le Atua, le tasi tagata, o Ioane lona igoa. 7 Na sau ia o le molimau, na te 
faailoa mai le malamalama, ina ia faalogo i ai o tagata uma lava ia te ia. 8 E le o le 
malamalama ia, a ua sau ia e faailoa mai i lea lava malamalama. 9 le malamalama 
moni ia, na te faamalamalama mai i tagata uma lava, i lona maliu mai i le lalolagi. 
10 Sa i le lalolagi o ia, na ia faia foi le lalolagi ; a e lei iloa lava ia e le lalolagi. n Ua 
maliu mai o ia i ana lava, a e lei tali atu e ona tagata. 12 A o e na tali atu ia te ia, ma 
faatuatua i lona suafa, na ia avatu i ai o lea lelei, ia avea i latou ma fanau a le Atua. 
13 i latou, e le o le toto na fanau ai, e le o le loto foi o le tino, e le o le loto o le tagata, 
a o le Atua lava. u Ua liu tino-tagata le Lokou, ua api mai ia i tatou, (na matou vaa- 
vaai i lona mamalu : o le mamalu lea pei o le mamalu o le Alo e toatasi o le Tama,) ua 
tumu i le alofa tunoa ma le mea moni. 

The Samoan or Navigators' Islands extend more than 200 miles from east to west, above and below 
the 14th degree of south latitude, and between 169 and 173 degrees west longitude. The largest of 
these islands, called Savaii, or Pola, is smaller than Tahiti, but much larger than Tongataboo. In 
1840 the population of the entire group was said to be 150,000, but subsequent estimates reduce the 
number to little more than a third of this amount. 

The Samoan differs from other Polynesian dialects in habitually substituting I for r and p for b. 
The Feejee and Samoan are the only idioms of this stock in which the sibilant consonant is admitted. 



Class V.] SAMOAN. 389 

The religious system of the Samoans previous to the introduction of Christianity, though equally 
gross, was less demoralising and cruel than that which obtained in the other islands of Polynesia. 
They worshipped beasts, birds, fish, and creeping things rather than idols of wood and stone, and were 
free from the domination of a powerful and crafty priesthood. The translation of the Scriptures into 
their language appears to have been undertaken in the first place by the Rev. John Williams, who 
afterwards met his death in the island of Erromango, while attempting to plant the Gospel among the 
fierce and sanguinary tribes of New Guinea. Other missionaries of the London Missionary Society 
assisted in this translation; and after the lamented decease of Mr. Williams, the version was continued 
and completed by them. The translation was drawn from the original texts, but with constant 
reference to the English, and frequent use of the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and other versions. 
Much assistance was also derived from the Tahitian and other Polynesian versions. 

The plan pursued in the prosecution of this work was to allot a separate book to each translator. 
On the completion of his particular portion, each translator availed himself of the criticism of the 
natives, and then submitted his production to the private examination of the other missionaries. After 
time had been afforded to propose the requisite emendations, all the missionaries met together, and 
conjointly effected such corrections in the translation as were deemed necessary. The work thus 
cautiously conducted was slowly brought to completion. An edition of 5000 copies of the Gospel of 
St. John appeared in 1842. This was followed in 1845 by an edition of 10,000 copies of the Gospel 
of St. Luke, translated by Mr. Macdonald; and during the same year by an edition of 10,000 copies 
of the Epistle to the Romans, translated by Mr. Heath. The Acts were translated by Mr. Hardie; 
and in 1846 the entire New Testament, including a revised translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew, 
was completed at press. 

A revised copy of the New Testament was sent by the missionaries, in 1848, to England; and at 
their urgent request 15,000 copies were printed in London, by the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
under the supervision of the Rev. J. B. Stair, formerly missionary in these islands. This edition, 
immediately on its completion, was sent to its distant destination. 

The translation of the Old Testament has since been accomplished by the persevering labours of 
the missionaries, and the printing of the entire Scriptures in the Samoan language was completed in 
1855. We derive from a recent Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society the following 
interesting particulars concerning this great work. Previous to the completion of the New Testament 
some progress had been made in the translation of the Old; and in 1848, an edition of 10,000 copies 
of the Book of Psalms was put through the press, bound, and circulated. In 1849, editions of 10,000 
each, of the books of Genesis and Exodus, were printed ; and in 1850, Leviticus, Numbers, and 
Deuteronomy, were also printed in editions of 7,000 copies each. The Pentateuch was then bound in 
one volume. In 1853, editions of 5,000 each of the Books from Joshua to 2nd Samuel inclusive were 
printed; in 1854, the remaining Historical Books; and the whole were bound up in one volume, 
forming the second volume of the Historical Books. 

In the same year, editions of 3,500 each of the Books of Solomon, the Lamentations, and the 
Minor Prophets, were put through the press. In the course of 1855, the remaining portions of the 
work were finished, and the whole of both the Old and New Testaments had been printed. The plan 
adopted in translation has been to assign to individuals separate Books or portions for most careful 
translation. These portions have been further submitted to the criticisms of the other members of the 
Samoan Mission, and finally revised for the press by a committee of not less than five, including the 
translators; and then printed in every respect according to the decision of the committee. "In the 
Old Testament our translations have been made from the Hebrew Text sent out to us by the British 
and Foreign Bible Society, and executed agreeably to the rules of the Society. Our English authorized 
version has been constantly before us, and adhered to as nearly as possible. Constant reference has been 
made to the Septuagint and Vulgate, and the best use made of the various Polynesian translations. 
With reoard to the lexicography, criticism and renderings of the sacred text, we have availed ourselves 



390 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 

of the labours of Eosenmiiller, Gesenius, Lee, Ainsworth, Blayney, Henderson, Lowth, Dathe, Patrick, 
Good, etc. etc. 

" These translations and revisions (concludes the language of the Report) have cost the members of 
our Mission many years of patient thought and labour; and it is a cause of great and most devout 
thankfulness to God, that some of us, who commenced the work on the Samoan group, and have from 
the beginning taken a part in the translating of the sacred word into its language, have lived to be 
engaged in it to its completion. To the Great Head of the Church, who has enabled us to put this 
invaluable boon into the hands of the Samoan people, be all the praise." 



FEEJEEAN. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

O koya na Vosa sa bula e nai vakatekivu, a rau sa tiko kei na Kalou ko koya na 
Vosa, a Kalou ko koya na Vosa. 2 Sai koya oqo e rau sa tiko vata kei na Kalou mai 
nai vakatekivu. 3 Sa cakava na ka kecega ko koya : a sa sega e dua na ka sa cakavj, 
me sega ni cakava ko koya. 4 Sa tu vua na bula ; ia na rarama ni tamata na bula. 5 Sa 
cila mai na rarama e na butobuto ; a sa sega ni kunea na butobuto. 6 E dua na tamata 
sa tala mai vua na Kalou, yacana ko Joni. 7 koya oqo sa lako mai me dautukutuku, 
me tukuni koya ua Rarama, me ra vakabauta na tamata kecega e na vukuna. 8 Ia ka 
sa sega na Rarama dina ko koya, a sa talai mai me tukuna na Rarama ko ya. 9 Sai 
koya ga oqo na Rarama dina, sa lako mai ki vuravura ka vakararamataki ira na tamata 
kecega. 10 Sa tiko e vuravura ko koya, a sa cakavi vuravura, ia ka sega ni kilai koya na 
kai vuravura. u Sa lako mai ko koya vei ira na kai nona, ka sega ni vakabauti koya na 
kai nona. 12 Ia ko ira sa va kabauti koya, sa solia kecega vei ira me ra yaco rawa me ra 
luve ni Kalou, vei ira sa vakabauta na yacana. 13 E ra sa sega ni luvena e na vuku ni 
nodra qase, se na sucu vakayago, se na veitalia ni tamata, sa vakasucumi ira ga na Kalou. 
14 A sa yaco me tamata na Vosa, ka tiko vata kei keda, (keitou a raica na nonai ukuuku, 
me vaka nai ukuuku ni gone e dua bau ga nei Tamana) sa sinai e na loloma ka dina sara. 

The Feejee or Figi group of islands lies between New Hebrides and the Friendly or Tonga Islands, 
being situated between 16 and 21 degrees south latitude, and between 177 east and 178 west longitude. 
It comprises 154 islands, of which 100 are inhabited, and the others occasionally frequented; the two 
largest islands are supposed to be each about 300 miles in circumference. The inhabitants number 
about 300,000: the relation which they bear to the rest of the Polynesian race is a problem of some 
difficulty to determine. In person they possess all the characteristics of the negrito race, but their 
language, instead of being, as was at one time supposed, a negrito dialect, is closely allied to the 
Polynesian stock. Although possessing certain peculiarities of its own, it is subject to the grammatical 
laws by which other Polynesian tongues are governed; and Humboldt has observed that Feejee agrees 
with the western dialects of Polynesia in many instances where the eastern and western idioms differ. 
It has a sibilant s, which other Polynesian dialects do not know; and like them it possesses a two-fold 
dual and plural for personal pronouns; with no inflections properly so called for either case, gender, or 



Class V.] FEEJEEAN. 391 

number. In general activity of temperament the Feejeeans also resemble their Polynesian brethren; 
whereas, the true oceanic negroes are everywhere a sluggish and inert people. 

The moral state of the Feejeeans is awfully depraved. They are grossly addicted to cannibalism, 
and natural death is an accident in Feejee, the sick being usually strangled. They even, says Mr. 
Lawry, rub human flesh over the lips of their little children, and put a portion into the infant's mouth, 
that it may be nourished by its juice, and trained in the practice of cannibalism ! The Feejeean chiefs 
rule in the most arbitrary and despotic manner, inflicting instant death on all who offend or disoblige 
them. The religion of the Feejeeans, we are told, differs materially from that of the lighter-coloured 
Polynesian people. They believe in a plurality of deities, and offer human sacrifices as a preliminary 
to almost all their undertakings. They recognise a future state of existence; but this belief, guided by 
no just notions of moral obligation, is the source of many abhorrent practices, leading them to the 
immolation of their aged relatives, and to the murder of wives at the funeral of their husbands. 

The Feejee Islands are divided politically into numerous small states, and a distinct sub-dialect of 
the general language is spoken in each. The principal dialect is that of Bau, and a translation of the 
New Testament was made into this idiom by the late Rev. J. Hunt, in concert with other Wesleyan 
missionaries. The work was completed in an edition of 1000 copies in 1849. The expenses attending 
it were borne by the Wesleyan Society, who alone have missionaries in these islands ; and the value of 
the translation having been fully attested, some aid has been received from the British and Foreign 
Bible Society. In 1854, the latter Society printed an edition of 5000 Feejee New Testaments, placing 
them at the disposal of the Wesleyan Society for distribution: subsequently, in 1858, an edition of 
5000 Gospels was issued by the Bible Society and forwarded to Feejee for distribution, at the earnest 
request of the missionaries, whose supply of Scriptures had already become exhausted. Meanwhile, 
the missionaries employed in the Feejee Islands were diligently engaged in the translation of the 
Old Testament, which they completed in 1854. Upon the representation of the Wesleyan body, 
the British and Foreign Bible Society at once agreed to undertake the cost of printing the entire body 
of Feejeean Scriptures, and arrangements are now in progress for the execution of this great work, so 
soon as the manuscript shall have undergone the necessary revision. The Rev. Mr. Calvert, a Wesleyan 
missionary long resident in the Feejee Islands, has undertaken the task of superintendence, and it is 
intended, immediately on his return to England, to print an edition of 5000 Bibles and 10,000 
Testaments. 

According to the late reports of the missionaries, we find that, in the face of much opposition, 
they meet with great encouragement, and that the impression begins to be very general among the 
natives that Christianity is true. " The very devoted and spotless life of Varani, one of the native 
converts (says Mr. Lawry), has done much to soften prejudice, and to cast lustre on the Christian 
character. His friend and companion in arms, Thakombau, king of Feejee, was very bitter and earnest 
against the Gospel, until he saw the true power of piety in this ' living epistle.' He now says that 
Christianity is true, and that his people shall embrace it; but that there are some wars to be completed 
first!" In 1858 there were 17,649 native converts, and 36,561 day-scholars of both sexes, under the 
instruction of the missionaries. It is said of those who have embraced the Gospel, that they adorn it, 
and that a goodly number of them go everywhere preaching the Word. In the island of Lakemba in 
particular, two-thirds of the adult population are stated to have been members of the Christian Society, 
while about 800 children were under Christian instruction: the change (it is remarked) is so general 
that a heathen is a curiosity and a gazing-stock in the land. This, however, it should be remembered, 
is an exception to the general condition of the still barbarous and benighted inhabitants of the Feejee 



392 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 



ANEITEUM. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. LUKE, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Eris ika natimi is ahinag eri asuptecnaig upene nitai iji eigki inta idim imiisjis 
ninivaijec vaig akaija, 2 Is idivaig eris asaig ehelema a ; 'jju atimi iji yehki, eris ecetai ara 
um asuptecnaig intas upene, itu acen urn imihum pam an naopan ineig ; 3 Ekis lep ika 
ainyak, ak natimi alupas, Diofilus, ki lep asuptecnaig upene ehelum an nitasvitai, ekis idim 
ato upene nitai iji eigki asega ainyak itu acen um imihum pam an naopan ineig, 4 Mika an 
ato aiek ninivaijec vaig o u itai iji eigki, eris esege imi yeuc. 5 ^[ An naopan yehki is wat 
atimarid anpece Jutaia a Herot, is eteuc natimi ahlap is ethi, nidan Sakaraia, is mapoi 
Abaija aien : is mapoi Eron a ehgan, nidan Ilisabed. 6 Is atoh nedo urau arau an nuhup 
o Atua, erus apos upene intas alep asega o Ihova arau, im nedo o un. 7 Is ti inhal urau, 
is eti asvalav a Ilisabed, is ahinag mesese ira rau. 8 Is wat ago nedo o ilpu atimi ahlap 
aien an nuhup o Atua, is idivaig nedo ura, 9 Nauritai o un ineigki, is atnamud nita awa 
nipin upene aien anliin neom ahlap o Ihova, is idivaig nedo o ilpu atimi ahlap. 10 Eris 
amen ijo natimi is ahinag um alaigaheni is wat atnamud nita awa nipin upene aien. n Is 
ehcohos ehelen a nagelo o Ihova um aiji an nahaiji nefata uri nita awa nipin upene an 
matan. 12 Is wat ecet yin a Sakaraia is eucjucjucaij inliinmopon aien vai nimtitai yin o un. 
13 Is tas a nagelo um ika ehelen, Jim imtitaig, ak Sakaraia : ehmun atahaijeg nalaigaheni 
unyum; etpu apos inhalav atamaig a ehgam Ilisabed, napu anvi nidan aiek par ika Joanes. 
14 Etpu imiacitak inliinmopom aiek um cediaig: uhuit apos yin erupu imiacitak natimi inyi 
ahinag. 

Aneiteum is one of the languages belonging to the further Polynesian group, and is a branch of the 
Papuan tongue. The island of Aneiteum, in which it is vernacular, is the most southward of the New 
Hebrides, a chain of volcanic islands which stretch in the direction of north and south, through four 
hundred miles of ocean, between the parallels of 14° and 21° south latitude. All the islands of the 
New Hebrides chain are mountainous, and several of them contain active volcanoes. Their soil is in 
general exuberantly fertile. They abound in sandal-wood, in which an extensive traffic is carried on 
by the merchants of Sydney, for the supply of the Chinese market. The island of Aneiteum is the 
most frequently visited of the number. The other islands of the chain are Tana, Erromango, Vate 
(or Sandwich Island), Api, Malicolo, and Espiritu Santo, the last mentioned being superior to any of 
the others in magnitude. Aneiteum is thirty miles in circuit, and contains, according to a census taken 
by the missionaries, 3,800 inhabitants. 

The natives of the New Hebrides come under the designation of " Negrillos," used by ethnologists 
to distinguish them from the Feejeeans and other members of the Polynesian-Negro family. But 
though all the islanders of the New Hebrides group possess many features in common — amongst them 
the black skin, crisp hair, and the practice of cannibalism — yet there are striking points of difference, 
which closer investigation than they have hitherto received will probably develope more fully, between 
the inhabitants of different members of the archipelago. The men of Vate (or Sandwich Island) are 
little inferior in stature, strength, and intelligence to the Feejeans, while those of Erromango, Tana, 
and Aneiteum, although differing considerably from each other, appear to belong to a less robust and 
less advanced people. 



Class V.] ANEITEUM. 393 

The efforts made to diffuse a knowledge of the revealed. Word, among the benighted, population 
of Aneiteum are of recent date, and are due to the Christian enterprise of the Eev. J. Inglis, and the 
Rev. J. Geddie, two missionaries of the Reformed. Presbyterian Church of Scotland, who have been 
stationed on the island since 1853. The first entire book of Scripture printed in Aneiteum was the 
Gospel of St. Mark, an edition of which (3,000 copies) was printed at Sydney in 1854, the expense 
being defrayed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. A small primer, containing a few pages of 
Scripture extracts, was printed at the mission-press on the island during the following year. An edition 
of 4,000 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke, in the language of Aneiteum, has since (1857) been printed 
in London by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and forwarded to the island for distribution. 

The efforts of Mr. Inglis and his coadjutors have been attended with the happiest results. Of 
the total population of 3,800 (writes Mr. Inglis, in 1856), " 2,400 have renounced idolatry and placed 
themselves under Christian instruction. From 800 to 900 are reading the Gospel of St. Mark, having 
previously mastered a small primer and catechism. A few of the natives have committed to memory 
the whole of St. Mark's Gospel, and a greater number large portions of it. The number of natives 
admitted to church membership is about ninety. The effects of Scripture truth upon the minds of the 
natives are becoming daily more and more visible in the happy change of character and conduct 
which is taking place over the whole island. Native teachers from this island have also been located 
on the adjoining islands of Futuna and Tana. 

"The superstitions, abominations, and cruelties of heathenism — as idolatry, war, cannibalism, stran- 
gulation of widows, infanticide, feasting and lascivious dances — are either past or rapidly passing away; 
and the peace, purity, and happiness of Christianity are fast occupying their place. For a considerable 
time peace has been established, and a free intercourse opened up over the whole island — a state of 
things unknown within the memory of man. 

" The tone of moral feeling is fast rising among the Christian natives. Lying, stealing, quarrelling, 
conjugal infidelity, and other immoralities, are no longer looked upon as mere venial offences. The Ten 
Commandments are now recognised as the standard of right and wrong, and moral character is tested 
by that holy and unerring rule of action." 

Subsequently, we learn that both the translation and printing of other portions of Scripture into 
Aneiteum are in progress. The two remaining Gospels, the Acts, and some other detached portions 
(including the book of Jonah and part of Revelation) have been completed, and some progress made 
with the Book of Genesis. The mission-press on the island is at work upon these as rapidly as its 
limited capabilities will allow, and the mission, under God's blessing, is steadily advancing. A church 
has been formed at each of the two principal stations on the island. 



394 POLYNESIAN OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 



LI FIT AND NENGONE. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. LUKE, Chap. i. v. 1 to 13. 

Wen' o re nodei no;ome xaranumu ha hna uane co aehngeni netitone o re nata no 
re nodei ace hna kedi podone hnei eije, 2 Se inome buije hna lae nata ni ehnije, ono buije 
ko re thu ule kacene ne ile ko re sihnamenenge no re enengoco Wene koda ri hna whane ; 
3 Hnego hna uane, roi ke inu co xiwamomo netitone te du Bua, Retoke, Theofila, wen' 
o re hnego hna ule kacene o re nodei ace ileodene wene koda ri hna whane ; 4 Ha thu 
ule kacene roione ke Bua o re nodei enengoco hna ieno Bua. 

5 Ri nodei rane ni Herode, doku ni si Juda, omelei ko se ngome thu hule, ielene 
Zakaria, ono re kote ne Abia; ono re hmenue ni nubone tei Arona, ono re ieleni nubone 
Elisabethe. 6 Ha netiti ke bushengone ri tadani Makaze; bushengone hna hue netitone 
ri nodei wathebo ne ile ko re lata ni Iehova. 7 Ka deko tei bushengone, wen' o re ha 
hneroi kei Elisabethe, ha rue eteshete ke bushengone. 8 Be ci ruacone ke nubone o re 
hna ethau pa jeu' o re ngome thu hule, ono re etha ne nubone ri tadani Makaze, 9 Se 
inome o re lata no re hna ethau pa jeu' o re ngome thu hule, ono re pani nubone co reule 
o re sereie me bone buruia be ci okonelo ke nubone ri hneruala ni Iehova. 10 Ono re 
nodei ngome xaranumu ileodone ci hne ko obote ri gula rane co reule o re sereie me bone 
buruia. n Ile me ahngabote du nubone ko se angela ni Iehova, nubone ci sere ri gula 
nata no re atarau bane reule o re sereie me bone buruia. 12 Ka Zakaria ci ule, ile nubone 
me tijabote, ile me pina ko re pareu du nubone. 13 Kei il' o re angela ci ie du nubone, 
Zakaria, hage pareu ; ha hna taedengi ko re ci hne nubo, ka ono Elisabethe, hmenue ni 
nubo co hnapone o re tei nubo, ka nubo co atoe o re ieleni nubone Ioane. 

Lifu and Nengone" are the languages spoken in two of the islands of the Loyalty group — situate 
to the westward of the New Hebrides, and about forty-five miles east of the large island of New 
Caledonia, now a French colony. 

The Loyalty Islands, three in number, consist of Uea, Lifu, and Mare (or Nengone^, together 
with some small adjacent islets. They were comparatively little known until the visit of Captain 
Erskine, in Her Majesty's ship " Havannah," in 1849. The inhabitants are of the black, or Polynesian- 
Negro race, but with a strong infusion of the true Polynesian blood and language. The population is 
not numerous, the island being in a great measure barren, and only scantily supplied with fresh water. 
Numerous trading- vessels from Australia, however, visit them annually, for the sake of the sandal-wood 
which is so abundant throughout this portion of the vast Polynesian region. 

A mission was commenced on the island of Mare in 1854, under the auspices of the London 
Missionary Society. This island is stated to contain not less than 8,000 inhabitants, a third part of 
whom have since embraced the truths of the Gospel. The missionaries, the Revs. S. M. Creagh and 
J. Jones, devoted themselves assiduously to the task of translating portions of the Scriptures into the 
native languages of Lifu and Mare (Nengone), and have printed these, together with the Ten Com- 
mandments, a hymn-book, and a school-book containing an outline of early Scripture History, at the 
mission-press established in Mare. The Gospel of St. Mark, in the Nengone tongue, with the first 
five chapters of St. John's Gospel, were among the first fruits of their labours, and were gladly wel- 
comed by the Mare population, who eagerly engaged in the perusal of the Word of Life. The Gospel 



Class V.] AUSTRALIAN. 395 

of St. Luke has since passed through the press, the good work having heen aided by a supply of paper 
granted by the British and Foreign Bible Society. " The language of Nengone (remarks Mr. Creagh) 
is by no means easy, as appears to be the case more or less with most of the dialects of Western 
Polynesia. A knowledge of the Eastern dialects appears to be no help whatever to the attaining of 
these, except at first by communicating with the native teachers from the Eastern groups. The pro- 
nunciation is very much more harsh, consonants are more abundant, and double consonants, nasals and 
gutturals — unknown in the Eastern dialects — are more or less abundant than in those of the Western ; 
consequently we find the native teachers a long time before they can master the language, and indeed 
they can never pronounce it, but by long practice they become accustomed to its peculiarities, and the 
natives to their brogue, and hence they are generally intelligible." 



AUSTRALIAN. 

Australia, a vast region which nearly equals Europe in extent, and which is now rapidly 
becoming peopled by British colonists, is the native home of a thinly-scattered race of Oceanic negroes, 
who in some of their peculiarities approach the true African type, and in others as widely recede from 
it. The Australian negroes possess lank instead of woolly hair, and are weak and puny as compared 
with the African negro : physically considered, they appear to rank among the lowest of the human 
species. 

This singular race, besides possessing the interior of several of the islands above described, inhabit 
the insular region of which Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides form the eastern, and Papua or New 
Guinea the northern, margin. The principal groups of islands in which this people is predominant 
are New Britain, New Ireland, Louisiade, the Pelew, and the Marianne or Ladrone Islands. Whether 
the languages spoken by the negro population of these islands have any connection with those spoken 
by the negroes of Australia remains yet to be proved, but no resemblance has hitherto been traced. It 
has been clearly ascertained, however, that although the several tribes of Australia have each a distinct 
language, yet these languages, differing as they do in vocables, are all subject to the same laws of 
construction, and may therefore be regarded as members of one family. Further analysis has led to the 
discovery of some curious analogies subsisting between the Tamul and other languages of the Deccan 
and the languages of Australia. Similar grammatical principles appear to be inherent in both these 
groups, and some of their personal pronouns seem to have been derived from one and the same source. 
The Australian languages have evidently no affinity with the Polynesian, being remarkable for the 
variety and complexity of their grammatical forms; whereas, simplicity is the prominent characteristic 
of all the Polynesian dialects. The Australian dialect of the neighbourhood of Adelaide has not only 
a dual and plural, but regular inflexions to mark the cases in declension. It has no double dual and 
plural of pronouns like the Polynesian languages; and is by no means simple in the forms of conjuga- 
tion. It is a remarkable fact that, although living geographically speaking so near the Pacific islanders, 
they have in common with them neither language, race, nor customs. Their origin is altogether 
distinct. The Australian also differs from the Polynesian in the form and composition of words, the 
former employing many consonants, and the latter abounding in vocalic sounds. 

Concerning the number of aborigines in Australia, nothing like an accurate calculation has been 
formed, nor is it possible, in our present ignorance of immense tracts of the interior, a large portion of 
which is yet wholly unexplored, to form any trustworthy estimate on the subject. Major Mitchell, who 



396 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. 

had explored a seventh part of the Australian continent, observed that the regions through which he 
passed were very thinly peopled; and he considered that the total number of inhabitants could not 
exceed, and probably might be considerably under, 6,000. The tribes comprise but few individuals — 
often not more than forty or fifty in number, and rarely exceeding a hundred; and they are widely 
dispersed over large tracts of country. The gradual decrease of the native population has long been 
noticed. As long since as 1832, Mr. Handt, of the Church Missionary Society, wrote, " The aborigines 
are very fast wearing away wherever the whites get a footing. This arises from the consequences of those 
vices into which the Europeans initiate them. Satan has sent his messengers first, and they have been 
very active: I doubt whether the ministers of Christ will be as indefatigable." The process of decay 
has since, it is to be feared, advanced with accelerated speed. 

Several attempts have been made to translate the Scriptures into the languages of Australia, but 
hitherto only detached portions have been completed. On one occasion, when a chapter translated by 
the Church missionaries into the language of the tribe among whom they laboured was read publicly, 
the natives of their own accord approached the reader, and when he had finished, one of them almost 
in an ecstacy jumped up and exclaimed, "Book for blackfellows ! Book for black fello ws !" Similar 
instances from time to time have occurred, showing that labour is not in vain in the Lord; yet the deep 
moral degradation of the natives is a formidable impediment to missionary efforts. The debased state 
of their intellectual and moral faculties has been ascribed to a politico-religious system, which, though 
purely oral, pervades the whole of Australia. The origin of this artfully-contrived system is wholly 
unknown. It consists, says Sir George Grey, of " complex laws which not only deprive the Austral of 
all free agency of thought, but, at the same time, by allowing no scope whatever for the development 
of any great moral qualification, necessarily bind him down to a hopeless state of barbarism, from which 
it is impossible for him to emerge; while those laws are so ingeniously devised as to have a direct 
tendency to annihilate any effort to overthrow them." 

The Rev. Mr. Threlkeld has translated the Gospel of St. Luke into the Lake Macquarie dialect; 
but although his grammar of that dialect evinces some acquaintance with the idiom, no opportunities 
have yet occurred to test the critical merit of his version. 



CLASS VL-AFBICAN LANGUAGES, 



COPTIC 

SPECIMEN, EEOM" ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

l^eij 'hApxH we ncAxs ne oroe nicAxi nAqxH h>ATen <J>t oroe ne otkiot+ ne 
mcAXi. 2 4>ai euAqxH icxen ?h JjAxen cj>+. 3 etuBniBen A-nytorn eBOAeiTorq oroe 
ATcrworq une?Ai ^yconi ijen cJ)HeTAqyujni. 4 ne nconl^ me e'renj^HTq oro? nu)Mj) ne 
<J>orcoini nnipjoui ne. 5 oro? nioritnni Aqeporujini fjen rixaki oto? unenixAKi 
iyTAeoq. 6 Aq^jcuni nse orpmui eATOTopnq eBOAeiTen <J)t eneqpAn ne koaijiihc. 
7 cj)Ai Aqi evue-rueepe einA iVreqepueepe £>a morioini eiwA n*re oronniBen kia^ 
esoAerroTq. 8 ne naoq am ne nioTtnini aaaa ?inA nTeqepueope k>a niorcoini. 
9 nAqjyon hxe niorioini mtac^uhi c|)H6TepoTioini eptom niBen bgmhot eniKocuoc. 

in v V 

nAqxH l^en niKocuoc ne oro? niKocuoG Aq^yuuni eBOAerrcrrq oroe uneniKOcuoc 
cortonq. " Aq} ?a neTenorq oroe ne-renorq unoriyonq epojoT. 12 nn Ae erwrjyonq 
epujor Aq+ ep^n^yi ntoor eep jynpi rinor+ nneonAet eneqpAn. 13 nn e*re eBOAi,en 
cnoq An ne otag eBOAfjen <J>otio^j ncAp£ An ne otag eBOAi^en cj)ortoiy npu>ui An ne 

AAAA 6TATUAGOT 6BOAJh,6n <j>t. W OTO? niCASI Aqep OTCAp|r OT()2 Aq^COni klJ^pHI 

nhjHTen oto? AnnAT eneqooov uc^pHt unuoor nor^Hpi uu<viwrq nTOTq uneqiurr 
equez neuoT neu neeuni. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Coptic derives its name from the town of Koptos in Upper Egypt. It may come possibly from the 
words Kah-Ptah, land of Ptah or Phtah, the tutelary god of Egypt; and it was once the vernacular 
tongue of Egypt, but it has for centuries been superseded by the Arabic, and it is now only cultivated 
by biblical students, and by a very few of the Coptic priests. The liturgy of the Coptic Church is still 
read publicly in this venerable language, but it is utterly unintelligible to the majority of the Copts, 
who are generally unacquainted with any language but the Arabic. These people are descended from 
the ancient Egyptians, but their race has been mingled with the Persian, Greek, Koman, Arab, and 
Turkish nations, to whom Egypt has been successively subject; for according to the Divine prediction 
(Ezek. xxix. 15, and xxx. 13), Egypt has been the " basest of kingdoms," and the prey of foreign 
powers; and no prince of pure Egyptian lineage has, since the year B.C. 350, swayed the sceptre of 
the Pharaohs. 

Under this foreign domination, the population, the resources, and the civilisation of Egypt have 
(till within a very recent period) gradually decreased. According to Diodorus Siculus, this country, 



39S AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

in the time of the ancient kings, contained a population of 7,000,000. At the beginning of the nine- 
teenth century the amount of population had dwindled down to 2,500,000, and subsequently, owing 
to the ravages of the plague, and the long-continued influence of a Turkish system of government, this 
number had become further diminished to 1,800,000 inhabitants. The most recent estimates, however, 
make the population of Egypt, at the present time, amount to about 2,500,000. 

The diminished population of Egypt in modern as compared with ancient times becomes the more 
striking when we consider that the present inhabitants of Egypt are chiefly of Arabic or foreign origin, 
and that the Copts themselves form scarcely one-fourteenth part of the motley population now congre- 
gated on the soil of their ancestors. Their ranks have been thinned by persecution, by frequent inter- 
marriages with Mohammedan families, and by the secession of many individuals to Islamism; and, 
according to a recent estimate, they do not now number above 150,000 souls. A few among them 
have joined the Romish and Greek Churches, but nationally they belong to the Jacobite, Eutychian, 
or Monophysite sect. Their distinguishing doctrinal peculiarity is the confounding of the Godhead 
and manhood of the Lord Jesus Christ, — a heresy which was condemned by the fourth general council 
(that of Chalcedon) A.D. 451. The Coptic hierarchy is in several respects not dissimilar to the Romish: 
it consists of a patriarch, or supreme head of the church, and a metropolitan of the Abyssinians, with 
bishops, archpriests, priests, deacons, and monks. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The only language known to have derived its origin from the ancient Egyptian are the three 
dialects of the Coptic. This circumstance has invested the Coptic with peculiar interest in the eyes of 
the learned, particularly since the possibility of the ultimate recovery of the lost Egyptian language has 
been suggested by the ardent philologers who have devoted themselves to the deciphering of the 
hieroglyphic, hieratic, and enchorial inscriptions. In consequence of this connection with the ancient 
language of Egypt, it has been found that Coptic may not only be of service in recovering the literary 
treasures of that country, but also in solving the problem which has recently attracted so much attention 
concerning the position held by the Egyptian in the scale of languages, and the nature of its affinities 
with the now isolated Indo-European and Shemitic groups. 

Coptic would have been extremely valuable as an adjunct in these intricate investigations, had it 
been subjected to no further mutations from the true Egyptian type than those which the lapse of 
centuries naturally occasions. But when the successors of Alexander established themselves in Alex- 
andria, the language of the court was diffused through the country, and, though the Egyptian language 
did not cease to be spoken, a Greek element was infused into it, many Greek words were adopted, and 
the Greek alphabet was employed even in writing the native language. Hence part of the Coptic 
language is essentially Greek, or rather an admixture of old Egyptian and Greek, so intimately blended, 
and so disguised by orthographical changes, that it is now sometimes difficult to resolve the component 
parts into their original elements. 

There are, however, words and grammatical principles in Coptic which unquestionably entered 
into the ancient Egyptian language; and it is remarkable that affinities may be traced between these 
now obsolete forms of speech and corresponding forms existing in languages spoken at the present day 
in regions far remote from Egypt. Lepsius has shown that the Coptic possesses certain affinities with 
the Indo-European class of languages, and especially as respects its numerals, with the Sanscrit. Benfey 
and various other scholars have pointed out the relationship between its grammatical structure and that 
of the Shemitic class. Klaproth has detected a striking resemblance between many Coptic words and 
the corresponding terms in the Zirian, Mordvinian, Ostjakian, Albanian, and particularly the Tschere- 
missian and Tschuwaschian languages : he has also found resemblances between Coptic and Samoiede 
words, and some instances of affinity between Coptic and the languages spoken in the region of the 
Caucasus. It is remarkable, however, that in addition to these extra- African relations of the Coptic, 
it has several points of contact with the African languages, even with those spoken by the negro 



Class VI.] COPTIC. 399 

nations; so that whatever analogy may subsist between it and other groups of languages, it cannot 
properly be isolated from the African class. 

There are three principal dialects in Coptic, viz: — the Memphitic, the Sahidic, and the Bashmuric. 
The Memphitic, spoken in the neighbourhood of Memphis, is the least pure of the three, and contains 
the largest amount of Greek words. The Sahidic dialect spoken in Upper Egypt, and further from 
foreign intercourse, is more purely Egyptian, and bears the nearest relationship to the original Egyptian 
language as we have it in hieroglyphic inscriptions, and in hieratic and demotic MSS. Whereas the 
Bashmuric dialect, spoken in a portion of the Delta, differs from the others chiefly by certain changes 
in the vowels and in some of the consonants: it is the softest, and the Sahidic is the roughest of 
the three dialects. 

The Coptic alphabet with which these several dialects are written in MSS. and printed books 
consists of 32 letters, seven of which are of purely Egyptian origin, to be traced to existing hiero- 
glyphics, for the purpose of expressing sounds not found in Greek: the rest of the letters are all Greek. 
Some uncertainty still prevails as to the correct articulation of some of the Egyptian characters in the 
Coptic alphabet, which are pronounced differently by different individuals, even in Egypt. But in no 
wise does that hinder the study of the language, which is now cultivated with greater earnestness than 
ever it was, and which bids fair to bring to light greater riches of archaic lore than have yet been 
discovered. The study of ancient Egyptian through the Coptic is daily gaining greater importance; 
and ere long we may hope to be able to read ancient Egyptian papyri and inscriptions, not with a 
certain amount of probability only, liable to difference of opinion, as is the case at present, but with 
actual certainty. 

The Coptic bears strong affinity to the Shemitic languages, in the pronouns, suffixes, and affixes, 
especially; and also in some of its radicals. But it has in common with the Georgian, for instance, 
the use of infixes or particles, whether remnants of pronouns or not, which are inserted in the body of 
the word. The construction of the Coptic grammar is most regular — almost, it might be said, geome- 
trical; and as it is a relic of the highest antiquity, it possesses a charm which perhaps no other 
language has in common with it in its aboriginal stamp. The few following words may give an idea 
of the affinity which the Coptic bears to the ancient Egyptian : — 

Egyptian Coptic English 

aiur eiul hart 

aik aeik, aik dedication 

aua aoou, au glory 

abh obhe teeth 

af ab, af flesh 

am ou, om to eat 

ament ement the west, hades 

anch onch to live 

ani oni stone, etc. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

Although the Coptic possesses great interest in an ethnological point of view, its importance 
becomes unspeakably greater when we regard it as the favoured medium in which one of the earliest 
and most faithful versions of the Scriptures has been transmitted to us. The Old Testament was trans- 
lated from the Septuagint, in all probability during the course of the second or third century. The New 
Testament was drawn immediately from the original Greek, but there is much difference of opinion 
concerning the period of its execution : by some authors it is attributed to the third, by some to the 
fourth, and by others to the fifth century. It is recorded of Antonius, who began to lead an ascetic 
life a.d. 271, that he read the Egyptian Scriptures; but whether it was the Coptic or the Sahidic version 
which he possessed, still remains doubtful. 



400 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

The Coptic New Testament, in its general character, is conformed to the Alexandrine recension. 
According to Michaelis, some of its readings bear a striking affinity to those of the Latin version, and 
occasionally to those of the Codex Cantabrigiensis. The quotations of Origen, Eusebius, and Cyril, 
agree pretty nearly with the corresponding passages in this version. Several Arabic translations have 
been executed from the Coptic, and valuable Coptic MSS. are preserved in the Vatican, Paris, Berlin, 
Bodleian, and other libraries. In some of the MSS. of the Gospel according to St. John, the history 
of the woman taken in adultery is inserted, while in others it is omitted. The disputed passage in 
1 John v. 7 is not to be found in any Coptic MS. 

The project of publishing a printed edition of this version was first entertained by Thomas Marshall : 
he prepared the Four Gospels for the press, but died before their completion. The work was then 
undertaken by David Wilkins, or Wilkie, a Prussian, who, at the expense of the University of Oxford, 
brought out, in 1716, a complete edition of the New Testament, to which he appended a Latin trans- 
lation. The text of this edition was formed from Bodleian MSS., conferred with MSS. from the Paris 
and Vatican libraries. In 1829, an edition of 2000 copies of the Coptic Gospels, printed in parallel 
columns with the Arabic version, was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The text 
had been prepared by the Coptic patriarch at the instance of Mr. Jowett. It was carried through the 
press under the care of Dr. Tattam of Bedford, in conjunction with Professor Lee. An edition of the 
New Testament, with emendations drawn from Berlin Codices, was printed by Schwartze, at Lcipsic, 
in 1838. Ten years subsequently, another edition of the New Testament was undertaken by the same 
editor; but this later edition is enriched with copious critical and grammatical notes, and the text is 
chiefly drawn from Berlin MSS. 

No complete edition of the Coptic Old Testament has yet been published, for several of the books 
are missing; it is, however, probable that they are not actually lost, and that they may yet be found in 
some of the cloisters of Egypt. The Pentateuch was published in 1731, in London, by Wilkins, the 
editor of the New Testament. The twelve Prophetical Books were printed at Oxford, in 1836, under 
the editorship of Professor Lee and of Dr. Tattam. Fragments of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, 
(consisting of chap. iv. ver. 22, and chap, v.), and the sixth chapter of the apocryphal book of Baruch, 
were inserted by Quatremere in his great work on the Language and Literature of Egypt, published 
at Paris in 1804. These portions constitute the whole of the Coptic Old Testament hitherto printed, 
with the exception of the Psalms, of which no less than fire editions have appeared. The first two of 
these editions were published at Eome by the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, the one in 1744, the 
other in 1749: they were designed for the benefit of the Coptic Christians in Egypt, and the Arabic 
version was therefore printed in parallel columns with the Coptic text. A critical edition of the 
Psalter was edited in 1837 by Woide and Ideler, and printed at Berlin. Another critical edition 
appeared at Leipsic in 1844, under the care of Schwartze An edition consisting of 2014 copies of 
the Coptic Psalter, printed in parallel columns with the Arabic version, has likewise been issued by 
the British and Foreign Bible Society. 

The Twelve Minor Prophets were published with a Latin translation by Dr. Tattam, in 1836. 
In 1846, the same scholar published the Book of Job, with an English translation. In 1849, Bardelli 
at Pisa, published the Book of Daniel without a translation; and in 1852, Dr. Tattam published the 
" Prophetae Majores," Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel, with a Latin version; 
in 2 vols. 8vo. We must not omit also, a magnificent edition of the whole New Testament, in Royal 
4to., in Coptic and Arabic, printed with type cast for the purpose, and intended for the Coptic 
churches of Egypt; published at the expense of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, in 
1847. There is also another edition of the Pentateuch with critical notes, and published in numbers 
at Paris, of which the first two or three numbers only have appeared. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

This ancient version has been the means of keeping alive the form if not the spirit of Christianity, 



Class VI.] SAHIDIC. 401 

during a long series of centuries, among a persecuted people surrounded by Mohammedan oppressors. 
The results of recent distribution of the Scriptures have been encouraging. The bigotry of the Copts, 
and their stern adherence to the superstitions of their forefathers, appear to be decreasing; yet the power 
of the priesthood here, as elsewhere, impedes the progress of the Gospel : all free inquiry concerning 
spiritual things is fettered, and the people are kept in perpetual bondage by their dread of the clergy. 
Still there are instances of individuals being awakened, by means of the perusal of the Scriptures, to 
a sense of the fallen condition of their church. Mr. Kruse, long engaged as a missionary at Cairo, 
speaks, for instance, in a letter dated 1847, of a native Copt who compared the condition of the Coptic 
Church to the state of things described in 1 Tim. iv., and 2 Tim. iii. He added, " Our head (the 
patriarch) is sick, and the whole body is spiritually dead." After some lengthened conversation on the 
abuses of the Coptic Church, the man emphatically said, " We want a man to rise up from among our 
own people like your Luther, bold enough to stand fast in the faith, and to reform our church." The 
general condition of the Copts, throughout Egypt, is one of extreme poverty, and they are subjected 
to great oppressions by their Mohammedan rulers. 



SAHIDIC. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. v. v. 1 to 14. 
ummca mai ue n^yAneMMioTAAi. aIc bcok eepAi e eiGAHu. 2 mgt motkoatubmopa 

A6 ?M GIAHU 212CM TCnpOBATIKH. 6 ^JXTUOTTB epOC ULI§lT2GBpAIOC. 2CG BHACAIAA. Gp6 
+6 MCTOA ?IXU»C. 3 M6TMKOTK £A MAI MOTI nUHH^yG MMGTjycOMG, MBAAG. MM MCTAAG. 

uii MGT^yorcoor. 4 5 mgt iJorpcouG AG uuat, e Aqp maab ^uhh 

MpOUne ?U riGq^UJMG. 6 MTGpG 76 AG MAT6 nAI GqMKOTK. AqeiUG S6 AquucK, ncsAq 

MAq. xe GKoruny otxai. 7 Aqorio^ii MAq mcti nc-nyionG. xe nxocic um+ ptouc uuat 

2C6KAC p^JAM nUOOT TOO? GqGMOXT GriGCHT GTKOATUBHOpA. ?OCOM AG AMOK +MHT. ^IApG 
KGOTA p^JOpn GpOI. 6 BCOK GnGCHT. 8 nGXG ?C MAq. XG TCOOTM. MIHJGI UnGKOWOO 1 . 

uruoo^G. 9 atco mtgtmot AqorxAi mcpi npcouG. atco Aqqi unGqor , AOO-< AqUOO^JG. M6 

nCABBATOM nG nG?OOT 6TUUAT. 10 UGTXCO CTG UUOC MO -1 ! MIOTAAI DnMT AqAO. XG 
nCABBATOM nG. ATCO M6CTO MAK AM. G qi Un6KGr\\0O\ U AqOTCO^JB AG MCPI nptOUG 

Gqxo) uuoc. xc nuT AqTAAcroi nGTUUAT nkrr Aqxooc mai. xg qi nGKU\Xoo-». mFuoo^g. 
ATXMorq xg miu nc npcoue. Mt Aqxooc mak. xe qrrq. uruoo.^6. nMT AqAO AG 

MGqCOOTM. XG MIU nG. Fc TAp AqCA2*rq. GpG OTUHHiyG ZU nUA 6TUUAT. 14 UMMCA MAI 

ic 26 cpoqeu npnc ncxAq. xe gic zhhtg akqtxai. unpKOTK g jjmobg. xe mmg mgooot 
g nAi ^Jtonc UUOK. 

The Sahidic is a dialect of the Coptic language, and was formerly spoken in Upper Egypt, between 
Cahira (Cairo) and Assevan (or Assouan). This country was called Said by the Arabs, which is the 
origin of the term Sahidic. A version of the Scriptures was executed in this dialect, according to some 

27 



402 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

writers in the second, but certainly not later tlian the third, century. The Old Testament was trans- 
lated from the Septuagint, and the New Testament from Greek MSS. The Sahidic New Testament, 
like the Coptic, conforms in general to the Alexandrine recension, but it possesses several readings 
peculiar to itself, and in some instances it agrees with the Latin version. Its striking similarity to the 
Codex Cantabrigiensis is a fact often adduced in proof of its high antiquity. 

Fragments of this version still exist at Eome, Paris, Oxford, Berlin, and Venice, and also in the 
British Museum. Portions of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John appear to have been printed by 
Mingarelli in 1785. In 1789, part of the Gospel of St. John was printed at Kome, and also fragments 
of the Epistles to Timothy, taken from a Greek Coptic MS. in the possession of Cardinal Borgia. But 
the most complete edition of the Sahidic fragments is that published at the Clarendon press in 1799. 
This edition, which comprises nearly one-third of the New Testament, was commenced under the 
superintendence of Woide, but he died before the whole was prepared for the press, and the delegates 
of the Clarendon library employed Dr. Ford, Arabic reader of the University, to complete the work. 
A Latin version was appended to the Sahidic fragments in this splendid edition, with readings from 
Greek MSS., learned preliminary dissertations, and other critical apparatus. The Sahidic version is of 
extreme value to biblical students; it is also of the utmost practical utility, the dialect being carefully 
cultivated for critical investigations of hieratic and other Egyptian MSS. 



BASHMURIC. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. iv. v. 28 to 84. 

. . KUJ UT6C2TApiA G2AHI AC^H G20TN GTHOAIC. riGXGC IJIIIAUHJI : xe AIIOIIJI 

TAAG TGTGkl KI6T GnGIAUJU! UTAqXG etOB UlBI KIHI 6TAI6ITOT : UH+ RGI 116 n6 XPC. 
30 ATI A6 GBAA2U TJIOAIC ATCU ATI J^AAAq. 31 MAT2CIOUUAC UGq OTTtOOT IJGI.IIiq M2C6 

wequABHTHO 6tx«juuag : see epAnni otidu. 32 MTAq ag ncxcq KIGT XO OTAWTHI AIJAK 

IJOT2pH 60TAUG T6I MTAT6M 6U T6T6IJCAOTU UUAG Gkl. UATXtD OTIJ UUAG IJ2CG 

UeqUAOHTHG UN U6TAAHOT : X6 IUH+ A AAnC IMI WHq GTpGqOTCUU : IIGXAT IJHq M2CG 

IJGqUAOHTHC : xe epABBI OTCDU. 34 nGXGq KIHOT KI2C6 liTc: 2S:G TA2pH AMAK T6 2IMA 
UTAI . . . 

The Bashmuric, a sub-dialect of Sahidic, was spoken in Bashmur, a province of the Delta. It appears 
to have been an intermediate dialect between Coptic and Sahidic, and is remarkable for its almost 
universal preference for I over r, and like changes in other liquids and aspirates. Fragments of a 
Bashmuric version of the Scriptures, executed either in the third or fourth century, are still in existence. 
These agree so closely with the Sahidic version, that it has been doubted whether an original trans- 
lation was ever made from Greek into Bashmuric, some philologers being of opinion that the version 
now called Bashmuric is merely an adaptation of the Sahidic version to the dialect of Bashmur. 

Fragments of the Bashmuric version of St. John's Gospel were discovered by Georgi among the 
Borgian collection of MSS., and were published at Rome in 1789, with a Latin version and illustrative 
notes. Other fragments, consisting of parts of the first and fifth chapters of Isaiah, of the First Epistle 
to the Corinthians, and the Epistles to the Ephesians, to Philemon, and to the Hebrews, and of the 



Class VI.] BERBER. 403 

First Epistle to the Thessalonians, were published by Engelbreth in 1816. The Sahidic MSS., from 
which the text was drawn, belonged to the Borgian collection. The value of this work is greatly 
enhanced by the insertion of the corresponding passages in the Coptic and Sahidic dialects, so that a 
comparison between the three dialects can be readily made. A literal Latin version is added, with 
the corresponding Greek text, and notes illustrative of various readings, with critical remarks. 



BERBER. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. LUKE, Chap. vi. v. 27 to 38. 

o *<& o3 o g-* o -" o ^ g <- g ^ ^ -j.^- c 6 -- g •- g >• o15^ g tf-- o o>- * c . 



^b! ^sojj* * Jbji\ yb] jkti\ ^JekbLil ^mxj^=>\ ^Ull t_jjL^>- JL>\ ^bl j-AJjl ^^c* 

OO^O^- G ,-■ G *-.? 3 b &«/ O^O^ GG^G.^G-'G.-,*'^ C^C^-i.^Cio^-O^^^'OxO^-O/' -& ^ 

G ^-O ^- G.*- G G^- .'3^ L.s'Os' G .*W "«> -^ CPt,*'? G ^O^ G s-L,^*.." ^ £ •O^ G G^-^ G • G ^ G ^- s ? 

O "S ^- 3» ^•z' G -'G-' G ^-O ^ ^G^- G ^G -- •& -' ^ Cw G ,£ <S> s s- s' « ^ cCj^- G ^ G ^ G --v .. "5 ^ o>- O'S^' 

jjjbj J^X* ^1 t-^*-&1 yl ^jJ^L-^S^ j^j +Xs^i\ Ji^ * *^> ^u! la^JckUUj! |^^ ^«* <j^* 

G ^ '5^,'O-^C*- O •O^' ^O^- G y G -- G*-V ^ O^- G G -■' G >- G x-O^- 'Gss-s' O w o g ,- g ^^ g » g^ o^ 

^bJ Jjc* j^yl ^y^ _J^ ^AsXuJjl ^S\ Jstid *s:Xkvu\ Jj^ ' * c;: >< S yl_UU \ ^M ^jf^l jJu! 

O s~ S L.S- G *> ^ G ^O^ G x-O ^- ^O^ G- L> *>■ s- ^>* G,->* G "tfi ^- O^ C^O ^ g3 ,- '6>>'><' >- G •■ G ^G.*- w'S-^ o^ 

^j jjj\ ^bl u ^l <_ i^ji'J yl 3aJ_j *«J^ < — s*i^ ^Lo Jiyul Jju Jj3^» " * u" 6 ^-) tl^^== ,, J^'^ 

l;ir Li J l u bJ ^sill |«j^^ ,jU t_jJl (j-^<i J-i! u|/^ j u^Jj Jbt!i Jjj! ^1 *il i__ d^i Ukitt 

(^tXto,! L^A? ( ^ aj J J ^;^ (^^^J^ t M J ? L a A Jtf;1 ' * ^yu\ U-icl tj^^ A^Uj (*-£!l *jjjl jjbj 

G ■* ^G^- Gx- 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The whole of the interior of Northern Africa, from the Nile to the Atlantic, including the vast area of 
the Sahara, is inhabited by the Berbers, a primitive race of people belonging to the same stock as the 
Gsetuli, Mauri, and Numidag of antiquity. It is rather remarkable that, notwithstanding the political 
convulsions and changes to which Northern Africa has been subjected, these representatives of the 
ancient Libyan race still occupy the soil, and preserve the language, of their ancestors. Even their 
towns and villages retain the same names as those by which they are distinguished in the writings of 
Sallust and other classical writers; and the very signification of these names is the same in modern 
Berber as in the Libyan idiom spoken in the days of those writers. 

The Berbers are divided into several distinct nations, of which the principal are the Amazigh or 
Berbers of Northern Atlas, the Sheikhs, who inhabit the southern part of the same mountain chain, 



404 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

the Kabyles of the Algerine and Tunisian Mountains, and the Tuarick tribes of Siwah, Sokna, and the 
Western Desert. The Tibboos of the Eastern Desert, though darker in complexion than the Berbers, 
are supposed by some to belong to the same race. These nations are all brave and warlike, but un- 
civilised, and are followers of the false prophet. In point of political government, they are subdivided 
into a number of petty tribes, each of which, as among the Arabs, is under the command of a sheikh. 
We possess no precise statistical accounts of this people, but it is certain that they form at least one-half 
of the entire population of the empire of Morocco. Graberg estimates the Berbers, properly so called, 
at above 2,000,000, and the Shellahs at 1,500,000. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Modern researches have gone far to prove that the Berber language forms part of Shemitic philo- 
logy; yet, notwithstanding the Shemitic character of its structure, part of its vocabulary and many 
of its peculiarities are so decidedly African as to entitle it to a place among this class of languages. It 
resembles the Coptic in the preponderance which it gives to the letter t as an inflexional element, both 
initial and final. Its participial system, however, approximates it to the Amharic, and one of its verbal 
forms has a perfect counterpart in that language, and, according to Gesenius, in Himyaritic. The nouns, 
observes Professor Newman, freely admit of that substitute for a genitive case which is in Hebrew and 
Arabic entitled the putting of two nouns into regimen or construction. Some of the oldest nouns even 
appear to have a real construct form, consisting in the addition of ill to the noun itself. The article 
and demonstrative pronouns are similar to the Hebrew and Arabic; the general principles of euphony, 
inflection, and radical letters, present the same Shemitic features, and even the sounds of the Berber 
language are Hebrew. But on the other hand, Berber possesses a large stock of prepositions ot 
undoubted African origin, and akin to those of the Haussa language; and it further deviates from the 
true Shemitic type in the vast majority of its elemental words, in its peculiar usage of the participle, 
in its power of prefixing the fragmentary pronoun to the verb, and in the possession of a double set of 
affixes to distinguish the genitive and accusative cases. Owing to the influence of the Mohammedan 
religion, which is professed by the tribes of Northern Africa, and taught through the medium of the 
North African dialect of the Arabic, a large number of Arabic words have found their way into the 
Berber language. This, however, is as distinct from the Arabic as the Anglo-Saxon element 
of the English language is from the Latin, French, or Greek words introduced into it by time and 
custom. 

The Guanche language of the Canaries, as appears from ancient inscriptions, was a dialect of the 
Berber: the nation to whom it was vernacular became extinct, according to Alexander von Humboldt, 
in the beginning of the sixteenth century. Some of the Berber tribes, especially those of the desert, 
still employ the ancient Libyan letters of their forefathers; but the Arabic alphabet is now generally 
used in writing and printing the various dialects of Berber. 

III. — VERSIONS OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

A translation of the first twelve chapters of the Gospel according to St. Luke into the Algerine- 
Berber (or Showiah) dialect of the Berber language, spoken by the Kabyle tribes, was published by the 
British and Foreign Bible Society in 1833. The MS., which included the whole of the Four Gospels 
and the book of Genesis, was purchased by the Society of Mr. Hodgson, American consul at Algiers, 
for the sum of £150. The translation, which had occupied about two years, had been executed under 
the superintendence of that gentleman by a Kabyle Berber of the mountains near Algiers. Mr. Green- 
field, the editorial superintendent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, was engaged in the 
examination of the work at the time of his lamented decease. The editorship of the small portion of 
St. Luke's Gospel eventually committed to the press was then transferred to Mr. Hattersley of Leeds. 
Only 250 copies were printed as specimens, which were sent to individuals competent to form a judg. 
inent concerning the critical value of the translation. 



Class VI.] GHADAMSI. 405 

GHADAMSI. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. hi. v. 7 to 17. 






IjIajj tjju! CLii^i .'. ^^JSjJ IjJwj jSl Jot> J^l i Jus ^Lu ^U y\ ^jj^uib' ^ uM^JLt^ 

' O^ • «, ,<• •- -*C ^-^ ^-^- "& S S mm -' • .•Ox »• • • "3* .*» «.>• ijs s-s 

jL^\ U_Ai£U: 0U^« f^/^ £— ^ ^ : <ji?"^ I* 5 ?"-?* (^/^ <J1? *"" C^^^' '"^ ^J-^ ,J (r^-^b^ 

X ■&>•■£ J*tf» ,*■ XG » sS S xL.." X x -- XXX ^» X « X X^ X ?^ -S^ 

^^uaj jJLi aj^l .\ (•j^IjI J jb^ ***^*\! \sfTd ^ j^^ ffa-S;^ S-i; £^ u^ \j!^* fUJo 

O X ^ -& ss^s s-s s- # s <& s' XX C^ ^ C/XX X 3 -*• ^ O G ^ ^ 

(j^j j-M : ^^-aIIj^jI i—a^l jj^JJl (j-jj-j j^. ' ♦'• Uj* ^ J^?s~^ *Xjjls^ r ; IjJj &}! .*. ^JOl LuyJ! 
>S\ ytiji] ^Ji l-jj jjxJ\ %j»*i A-yj i*^i\ .*. i^-J^j ^ Uji (^ U£j ^.ill Jj! Ulj ^y^ {J JA\ 

.'• e-^J ^_u>5^ J^LaII UjL £jt* ^JU>]1 : Ijjo! u_ 5^1 : (,/-V.^^ f >*V. c:: - rt i;Wc ' 5 ■"• *V.«^^J' ^^-^1 

Ghadamsi is a sub-dialect of Tuarick, the language of one of the great nations into which the 
Berber race is divided. Tuarick is the predominant language of the western part of the Sahara, and 
Ghadamsi is spoken in Ghadamis, an oasis situated at about ten days' journey south-west from Tripoli, 
in lat. 30° 10' N., and long. 9° 19' E. The number of inhabitants in Ghadamis has been computed 
at from six to seven thousand. The importance of this oasis, in a geographical and commercial point 
of view, arises from the four grand roads which diverge from it into the interior of Africa. One of 
these roads leads direct through the Great Desert to Timbuctoo, where some of the people of Ghadamis 
are settled. 

A translation of the third chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew was a few years since 
made at Ghadamis, under the direction of the late James Richardson, Esq., by a native named Taleb 
Ben Mousa Ben El-Kasem. A short vocabulary of the language was added by the Taleb, but, unhappily, 
he got tired of his work before its completion. In fact, Mr. Richardson remarks, "the extraordinary 
impatience with which these people do anything of this kind for Christians almost exceeds belief." 
The MS. was sent from the desert to the British and Foreign Bible Society; it was transcribed by 
Professor Newman, of University College, who also appended a Latin translation; and a small edition, 
intended chiefly as a specimen of the language, has been published by order of the Foreign Office. 



406 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

MANDINGO. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. 

A kaffo balu dye, atata konko santo ; asita tumamenna, ala talibolu nata akang. 
2 A y ada yelle, a wolu nindi, ako ; 3 Menolu-nio be dobaring, ybarakata ; katuko itolu 
ta mu Aryena-mansaroti. 4 Frigimolu barakata, katuko ysi fonio sotto. 6 Sabbatemolu 
barakata, katuko ysi dunya keo. 6 Menolu konkota ning mindota ybe lafiring kekuyala, 
ybarakata, katuko ysi wolu fandi. 7 Menolu-juso be seniaring ybarakata ; katuko ysi 
Alia dye. 8 Hinamolu barakata, katuko ysi hino sotto. 9 Barriadingolu barakata ; 
katuko itolu to mu Alla-dingoluti. 10 Ybarakata molu ye menu batandi keyuya kamma, 
katuko itolu ta mu Aryena-mansaroti. n Altolu barakata, ning molu y altolu jelle 
ning batandi, ni ye kumo jau bey fo altolu kang faniarinto ntela kamma. 12 Wotumo 
alsi jusula, alsi jusulaba, katuko altolula joro warata Aryenato ; katuko ye kilalu batandi 
wonyama menolu folota altoluti. 

Mandingo (or Mandenga), the most important language of modern Negroland, is predominant in 
many powerful states on both sides of the Gambia. On the east it is conterminous with the Haussa 
and Yariba languages, and on the north it prevails as far as the border of the Great Desert. It is also 
supposed to extend far into the interior of the continent, and is spoken in Bambouk, and in the late 
empire of Bambara. It is not possible to estimate the number of individuals to whom this language 
is vernacular, for much of the Mandingo territory is scarcely known to Europeans; and owing to the 
enterprising and commercial character of the race, Mandingoes are to be found in great numbers, located 
as traders, in regions far distant from their native states. They are to be met with at Sierra Leone, at 
Cape Mesurado, at most of the places of commerce along the coast, and in the interior as far as the head- 
quarters of the Niger; so that there are several dialects of the Mandingo. 

Some connection is supposed to exist between the Mandingo and Foulah tribes, but too little is 
known of the language of the latter to admit of a close comparison being instituted between it and the 
Mandingo. Both Mandingoes and Foulahs are as superior in civilisation and intelligence to the other 
tribes of intertropical Asia, as were the Aztecs and Peruvians to the various tribes of the New World; 
and in point of physical conformation, they form an intermediate class between the negro and the 
Asiatic type. 

The Mandingo language has only two numbers, singular and plural. The plural is formed by 
adding lu to the singular, the last vowel of which is changed into o, if it does not end in that vowel. 
Thus: — mausa, a king; mausolu, kings; muso, a woman; musolu, women. There is no distinction of 
genders; and no cases of declension, properly so called; the inflection of nouns being made by particles 
or pronouns, in the simple and primitive way we find in languages little cultivated. Thus ala, his, is 
made the sign of the genitive, as it was in English: thus mausa ala kumo, the king his word; is con- 
tracted into mausala kumo, the king's word, etc. As the Mandingoes have a very imperfect notion of 
time, the conjugation of their verbs, managed by pronouns and other particles, is nevertheless far from 
correctly defined. Thus the present does for the past, or rather both tenses are involved in one common 
aorist, etc. This language is soft, sonorous, rich in vowels, and entirely of African stamp. 

The Mandingoes are all Mohammedans, and generally pretend to some acquaintance with Arabic, 
the sacred language of their religion. Many Arabic words have been engrafted on the Mandingo 
language, while numerous terms, especially those relating to commerce, have been borrowed from 
various European languages. Copiousness, easy enunciation, and comparative freedom from nasal and 



Class VI.] J ALL OOF. 407 

guttural sounds, are said to be the characteristics of Mandingo : its nouns for the most part end in the 
vowel o; this termination often conveys an emphatic signification, and is sometimes equivalent in 
meaning to the definite article. 

The Eev. Mr. Macbrair, a Wesleyan missionary, was the first to undertake the translation of the 
Scriptures into this widely-extended language. His version of the Gospel according to St. Matthew 
was printed in London under his own superintendence in 1838, by the British and Foreign Bible 
Society. The edition, which consisted of 500 copies, was placed at the disposal of the Wesleyan 
Missionary Society: no definite accounts have been transmitted concerning the results of the distribu- 
tion among the natives. Copies of the Arabic version of the Scriptures have been distributed among 
the Mohammedan Mandingoes who visit the west coasts of the African continent for purposes of 
commerce. 



J ALL OOF. 

The Jalloof, or, as it is variously written, the Woloff, Guiloff, or Ouoloff language, is spoken from the 
Atlantic to Podor, along the south bank of the Senegal from west to east, and from the mouth of that 
river southward to Cape Verde. In the immediate neighbourhood of Cape Verde it surrounds, and 
probably isolates, a small tract of country in which the Sereres language is vernacular. The Jalloof 
also prevails southward of Cape Verde, as far as the regions on the Gambia, in which Mandingo is 
predominant. 

The Jalloofs are black, but their features are cast more in the Asiatic than in the African mould. 
They are active and enterprising, like the Mandingoes, and in point of civilisation are superior to most 
of the tribes of Guinea. Some among them are Moslems, the rest are Pagans. Their language has 
been considered a branch of the Mandingo family, but it has in fact very few words in common with it; 
whereas the dialect of Bambara presents a decided affinity with the Mandingo. It is copious, and very 
expressive, but is now so much mixed with French and Arabic words, in colloquial intercourse with 
Moorish and European traders, that half of the language, according to Mr. Macbrair, is lost in these 
foreign additions. But the language itself, in its own purity, as it is spoken in the interior, is free from 
any great admixture of foreign idioms. 

The Woloff, or Jalloof, is an extremely soft and sonorous language; simple in construction, and 
easy to be acquired. Yet at the same time it presents features of combination Avhich one is surprised 
to find in an idiom spoken by tribes apparently so little civilised. They have two numbers; pronouns 
in which one may trace the analogy of the Coptic or Shemitic ones; and the conjugation of their verbs, 
in which there are no participles, is made, like that of most African languages, by means of particles 
affixed and of pronouns prefixed to the root. But this root is capable of a great variety of meaning, 
according to the suffix it receives. Thus, sopa, to love, becomes sope, to love tenderly; sopante, to love 
one another; sopou, to love oneself; soplo, to cause to love; sopi, to be about to love; sopati, to love 
again; sopadi, to love but little; sopou, not to love; sopatou, to love no more, etc. This combination 
is found of course in other languages, but in a less degree than in Woloff. 

The Jalloof language, as Mungo Park remarked, has long been studied by Europeans engaged in 
the Senegal trade. The honour of reducing it to writing was reserved for a Quaker lady. A grammar 
and dictionary were afterwards published by Mr. Dard, a Frenchman at the head of schools in Sene- 
gambia. Hannah Kilham, who belonged to a Quaker family of Leeds, devoted her time and energies 
to the instruction and moral elevation of the Jalloof and other negro tribes, and at length sacrificed her 



408 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

life in the cause. She compiled a book of reading lessons in Jalloof, among which were introduced 
some passages from the Scriptures translated by herself. The work, which was printed towards the 
close of the last century, was found to be perfectly intelligible to the Jalloofs. Dongo Karry, a young 
Mohammedan native, on hearing a few sentences read, exclaimed, " Ah ! that is Jalloof;" and imme- 
diately gave the signification of what he had heard in English, with which he was tolerably conversant. 
Afterwards, when some passages of Scripture were read to him from the same book, he cried out with 
emphasis, " Great and good! Great and good!" It is to be hoped that the commencement made by 
Hannah Kilham, in preparing a translation of the Scriptures for this people, will be followed by the 
preparation of a complete version : at present the Jalloofs possess no entire portion of the sacred volume 
in their own language. ... 



S U S O 0, 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. 

Awa a to moechee qwbeqwbe toh, a teh gea ma : a nacha to nu fa dochache, acha 
batulae fa a chong : 2 A nacha a de rabi, a nacha e tinkga, a nacha falla, 3 Marafangji 
na moechee be nachang niniche e boniae ma : katukung arriana-mankgania na e be. 
4 Marafangji na e be nachang monnama : katukung e fama malenglengde. 5 Marafangji 
na moechee loachame be : katukung e dunia niachungji kulungma. G Marafangji na e 
be, kame ning yeh choli nachang zuchuma fangnia kira ra : katukung e fama rafehde. 
7 Marafangji na moechee be, niamaniuchung na nachang be : katukung e tina niamania- 
chungji zotoma. 8 Marafangji na boniae-fiche-moechee be : katukung e Allah tohma. 

9 Marafangji na e be nachang chari-zahma : katukung e chillima Allah cha die ra. 

10 Marafangji na e be, moechee nachang torama fangnia qwbe fe ra : katukung arriana 
mankgania na e be. ,n Marafangji na wo be, cha moechee wo mayelema, ning cha e wo 
ramochoma, ning cha e fee niache ki hiring fallama wo chungma dundidundi, ng qwbe 
fe ra. 12 Niachaniacha, ning wo boniae docha qwbeqwbe ra : katukung wo bunia qwbe 
razuchuma arriana e : katukung e duree ramocho na ki ne, nachang nu na. wo niara. 

The Susoo language is spoken on the coast of Senegambia, between the Rio Nunez and the Kissi ; 
and it may be said to follow the course of the river Scarcies to Timbo, and thence to Kakundy. It 
agrees with Mandingo in euphonic principles, and especially in the collocation of words. Thus, the 
adjective, in Susoo as in Mandingo, must follow the noun, the adverb must stand after the verb, and 
the postposition after the noun; the direct object must be placed before, and all indirect objects after 
the verb, and the same place in a sentence must be assigned to the relative as that which is usually 
occupied by the demonstrative pronouns. There is no article in Susoo, and no declension of nouns 
properly so called; gender is expressed by the addition of words equivalent to man and woman, as in 
most other African languages, and the plural is denoted by the letter i; e.g., shi signifies a goat, and 
shit, goats; so, rhame, a man, rhamei, men. 

In 1797 an attempt was made by the Edinburgh Missionary Society to introduce the Scriptures 
among the Susoos; but their missionary, the Rev. H. Brunton, after enduring great sickness and 
privation, was compelled to leave the country without effecting a translation of any portion of the 



Class VI.] BULLOM. 409 

sacred volume into this language. After his return to Scotland, he compiled a Susoo grammar, and 
several elementary works, which have proved useful to other missionaries. The first seven chapters of 
the Gospel according to St. Matthew, translated into Susoo by Mr. Wilhelm, have been printed by the 
Church Missionary Society; and the entire Gospel of St. Matthew, with some other parts of the 
Scriptures, have been prepared by the agents of that Society, but are not printed. 

A translation of the Orders for Morning and Evening Prayer, and the Litany, into the Susoo 
language, was printed in London, in 1858, at the expense of the Christian Knowledge Society. This 
translation is the work of the Rev. Mr. Duport, a West Indian negro, resident at the mission station of 
Fallangia, in the Susoo country. Mr. Duport has since translated into Susoo the Catechism and other 
portions of the Church services, and these versions are in constant use at the mission. 



BULLOM. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. 

Yeh u ka keh runiah bomu tre, u kon ko kick atook nu chall ka, ahdisciple ah tre 
ngha hundy ko ko woa : 2 Jesus yeery nyengh woa nu menghe ngha, nghaleh, 3 Rubah 
ke nghana cheh moneh ke ugbolleh yeo : upock u foy tre ngho ngha be. 4 Rubah ke 
nghana tranghellin : peh hun ngha be'el p'eah. 5 Rubah ke aniah mboss : upock u tre 
ngho ngha be. G Rubah ke aniah tre nghana nrick ma ngha re, nu ugboll ngha seckle eh 
re halle dyah keleng tre ; peh hun ngha kah yempy dyo, ngha pum. 7 Rubah ke aniah 
tre nghana cheh bongha nkeleng : peh ngha hun marr. 8 Rubah ke aniah tre nghana be 
ugboll u tinkle yeo : ngha hun lehly Foy. 9 Rubah ke ahpom ah tre, peh veal ngha 
ahpomah Foy. 10 Rubah ke aniah tre, lo ngha nghah dyah keleng yeo, nu peh ka nghah 
dyah bang ko ko ngha : nghana be upock u foy tre. u Rubah ke moa, lo aniah tre ngha 
moa nghah punk, lo ngha toh moa, lo ngha moa kah ilille bang nsele halle halle me. 
12 Nhvoy, nchang ah hvoy: moa be packah bomu ke foy: ke manleh peh ka toh ahprophet 
ah tre nghana cheh leh moa eboll. 



*8' 



Bullom, a dialect of the Mandingo language, is spoken around and at the back of Sierra Leone: 
it prevails in a tract lying between the rivers Scarcies and Timbo, the Kong Mountains, and the Cape 
Mount River. The Bulloms, like the Susoos, form a part of the Mandingo race already described. 
A translation of the Gospel according to St. Matthew was made into their language by the Kev. 
G. R. Nyliinder, of the Church Missionary Society, and an edition was printed by that Society in 
1815. No further attempts appear to have been made to furnish the Bulloms with the Scriptures in 
their own tongue. 

The Bullom language is neither so soft nor so sonorous as the WolofT or the Mandingo; it has 
also more nasal or guttural sounds than either of those idioms. Like them, it has two numbers, singular 
and plural. The latter is formed by prefixing ah, e, 'v, s, and te, to the singular. Thus: lakan, a 
woman, plural ah lakan, women; bell, a nut, ebell, nuts, etc. There are no cases, properly so called; 
but relation is expressed by ha, ko, halle; e. g. pokan, a man, ah pokan, men, ha ah pokan, of men, 
halle or ko ah pokan, to men, etc. The pronouns bear little affinity to the Eastern African, or to the 
Coptic class. The verbs are for the most part roots of one or two syllables; and they all begin with 



410 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

consonants. Active verbs are formed by ah, eh, or oh ; e. g. balle veal ah, to call : neuters are made 
causal by adding e to the verb, e.g. balle bin, to lie down; balle bine, to cause to lie down, etc.; and 
they are made negative by adding ehn to verbs ending in consonants; as balle bin, to lie down; balle 
binehn, not laid down, etc. There is no inflexion to verbs for singular and plural. They are both 
alike. 



SHEHBRO-BULLOM. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. LUKE'S GOSPEL, Chap. x. v. 30 to 37. 

30 Noh-pokan bul ka thowl hink Yerusalem ko Yerieho, ni woa ka duck ahying 
ahlui, wonno woa buss woa cotta woa re, ni ngha keth woa, ni ngha kony, ni leh woa 
tuhn ha wu. 31 Dya-gbuttul, moinoh bul ka hun nai landeh, ni yeh woa ka keh woan, woa 
chang lill ha re ahtuck. 32 Ni yimbul Livinoh, yeh woa ka che ahyina landeh, ni lehly woa 
ahtuck, woa chang lill ha re ahtuck. 33 Kerh Samaritanoh bul, keryeh woa ka che gbeih, 
ka hun ko lo, woa ka che, ni yeh woa ko keh woa, woa ka bi nlap woan. u Ni ka ko ko 
woa, ni ka rammel pah woa re, ni ka pirry ahyi unqueih ni moi, ni peh woa kabaloh woa 
re ahtuck, ni woa ka chi woa kill ahyi ni beck-woa-ntihn. 35 Ni shoh yeh woa chang, woa 
quih ticoppo titing, ni ka kah nghan ko Bah kill re, ni woa ka hoh ko woan, nbeck-woa- 
ntihn ni bulehng hum pagah chang ngho, yeh yah muny hun, yah bo pagah moa. 36 Ahniah 
rah ro, ntehnienny ladeh hum woa bo che tembah ko woan, wonno woa duckoh ahying 
ahluiah re ? 37 Ni moinoh sabba re woa hoh : wonno woa ka tunky nlap ko woa, ni Yesus 
woa ka hoh ko woa : nko ki ngha ken woa ka ngha. 

The territory of the Sherbro-Bulloms comprises about 5000 square miles, with a line of sea-coast about 
120 miles in length, situated between the south bank of the Camaranca River, in lat. 7° 54' N., 
and the border of Gallinas district, in lat. 7° N. This fertile region was voluntarily ceded to the 
British in 1825. The Sherbro-Bullom dialect is also spoken in the Bananas, a group of very small 
islands, now a dependency of Sierra Leone, situated off the south-western extremity of the Sierra Leone 
peninsula, and between four and five miles distant from the town of Kent. 

The Bullom and the Sherbro, in all probability, originally formed one language; but so many 
foreign words and idioms have been introduced in each, that there are now essential differences between 
them ; and it is said that few Bulloms can understand Sherbro. 

In the early part of the present century, the book of Genesis, Newton's Hymns, and the Liturgy 
of the Church of England, were translated into Sherbro by Mr. George Caulker, a native, and formerly 
headman of the Bananas. Mr. Schb'n, of the Church Missionary Society, has since re-trans- 
lated part of Genesis, and likewise prepared a translation of part of the Gospel according to St. 
Matthew. He had the satisfaction of finding that his translations were perfectly intelligible to the 
people; and therefore, during his visit to England in 1839, he caused part of his work to be printed, 
which he took back to Africa with a view to further correction. Although so small a portion of the 
Scriptures has been printed in Sherbro, it would seem that the version, incomplete as it is, has been 
owned and blessed of God; for the missionaries state, that " no village or town in the whole colony is 
so free from superstitious practices as are the Banana islands." 



Class VI.] YARRIBA. 411 



YARRIBA, OR YORUBA. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM ROMANS, Chap. in. v. 19 to 31. 

19 Nisisiyi awa mo pe ohunkohun ti ofin wi, o wi fu awon ti owa li abbe ofin ; ki 
gbogbo ennu ki ole ipamo, ati ki gbogbo araiye ki ole idi elese niwaju Olorun M Nitori 
na nipa ise ti ofin, kb si enniti aoda li are niwaju r& : nitori nipa ofin ni imo ese gbe wa. 

21 Sugbon nisisiyi ododo Olorun han lehin ofin, ti anje li eri nipa ofin ati nipa awon woli : 

22 Ododo Olorun na nipa igbagbo ti Jesusi Kristi si gbogbo enia ati lara gbogbo awon ti 
9 gbagbo : nitori ti kb si iyatto : 23 Gbogbo wa li asa ti se, awa si di abukun si ogo 
Olorun. M Enniti anda li are nipa ore ofe r& nipa idande ti owa lara Kristi Jesusi : 
25 Enniti Olorun ti yan telle se etutu nipa igbagbo ni ti ejje r£, lati fi ododo rb han nipa ti 
idariji ese ti o ti koja nino ipamora Olorun ; 26 Lati fi ododo rh, han nigba isisiyi : ki ole 
ise alare, ati oludare enniti 9 gba Jesusi gbo. 27 Nibo ni iyin ha gbe wa ? ati mu u kuro. 
Nipa ofin wo ? ni ti ise ? Onko : sugbon nipa ofin igbagb9. 28 Nitori na awa pari rh si 
pe nipa igbagbo li anda enia li are lehin ise ofin. 29 Olorun aw9n Jew nikansoso ha ni? 
ki ise ti aw9n Kef eri pellu ? beheni, ise ti awon Keferi pellu : 30 Nje ari i pe Olorun kan 
ni ti yi odare fu awon akola nipa igbagbo, ati fu awon alaikola nitori igbagbo 31 Awa 
nha nso ofin di assan nipa igbagbo bi ? Ki ama ri i : sugb9n, awa nfi idi ofin kalle. 

The Yoruba country lies on the right or west bank of the Niger, from Iddah to Yaouri. The district 
in which the language is predominant is bounded north by the Nun and the Haussa country, east by 
Warree and Benin, and west by Dahomey. The dialects spoken on the coast are called Yebu, while 
those in the interior are variously styled Eyo, Inongo, and Yoruba, but they are all local varieties 
of one language. The Yoruba tribes possess the characteristics, physical and intellectual, of the 
negro race. Some among them are Pagans, and others Mohammedans; but they are all, like other 
negro nations, distinguished by their veneration for charms and amulets, which they fancy can avert 
sickness and affliction. Their government is carried on by means of a superstition called Oro, the 
secrets of which are confined to the male sex. Any person who reveals these secrets is punished with 
death, and the same punishment is inflicted on any woman who may become acquainted with them. 
Polygamy, as in other negro states, prevails to a great extent, and some of the chieftains have been 
known to possess two thousand wives. The king of the country informed Clapperton that he did 
not know how many wives and children he had, but he was sure that his wives alone, hand to hand, 
would reach from Katunga, the capital, to Jannah, a distance of considerably more than one hundred 
miles. 

The Yoruba language, in grammar and general structure, resembles the Mandingo and Haussa 
languages. The inflectional elements, however, possess no trace of similarity to those of either lan- 
guage, although founded on the same principles. The Yarriba accents and intonation are not readily 
acquired by foreigners. 

A translation of portions of the New Testament into the Yoruba language was first effected a few 
years since, by the Rev. Samuel Crowther, a native of the country, and a re-captured negro-slave, 
subsequently ordained as a minister of the Church of England. An edition of 500 copies of the Epistle 
to the Romans was printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in 1850. The 



412 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

gratifying manner in which this version of a part of the inspired Word was welcomed by the native 
population led the same Society to print, in the following year, further portions of the Yoruba Scrip- 
tures, consisting of 500 copies each of St. Luke's Gospel, the Acts, and the Epistles of St. James and 
St. Peter. These were at once forwarded to their destination, and experienced a like favourable 
reception. " The word of God (writes one of the missionaries in 1852) is most eagerly received and 
read at Abbeokouta, and wherever there is one able to read, many have been blessed by the same." 
Later testimony is to the same purport. The Eev. H. Townshend, of Abbeokouta, in thanking the 
Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society for copies of the portions of Scripture translated 
into the Yoruba language, adds, — "A large portion of them are already in the hands of natives of both 
sexes, who read, and, I am thankful to say, understand what they read therein." 

Further portions of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, have since been translated into 
Yoruba by Mr. Crowther, and have been printed, as fast as completed, at the expense of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society. The demand for the Word of God has, indeed, been so great as to render 
necessary later editions of the portions first translated into Yoruba, which have been accordingly 
revised for the purpose. The books of Genesis and Exodus, together with other portions of the Old 
Testament, including the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, have passed through the press. The 
Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John have also been translated into Yoruba by the Eev. T. King, a 
native Christian minister, and an edition of each has been printed — the latter in 1857. The Gospel 
of St. Mark has since been completed, and an edition of 1,500 copies issued. Further portions of tha 
Bible are in progress of translation by Mr. Crowther. 



HAUSSA. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. xxv. v. 1 to 13. 

Saanan kassa Alitshana ta yi kamma budurai Goma, woddonda su ka dauka fitillai 
nsu, su ka fitta su ngamu da ango. 2 Biat tshiki nsu da hangkali, biat tshiki nsu ba su 
da hangkali ba. 3 Woddanda ba su ba hangkali su ka dauka fitillai nsu ba su dauka da 
moi ba. 4 Arama masuhangkali su ndauka moi tshiki nkoore nsu tare da fitillai nsu. 5 Da 
ango ya dadeh su duka su na gaingedi da kuana. 6 Da sakka dere akayi kuuka ; dubah, 
ango shi na taffi, fitta ku ishe shi (ku gamu da shi). 7 Saanan duka budurai su ka tashi, 
su ka girda fitillai nsu, 8 Woddanda ba su da hangkali su ka tshe da masuhangkali, bah 
mu moi nku, dong fitillai mu su na matshi. 9 Amma masuhangkali su ka amsa su ka tshe, 
ba hakka ba, ba shi issa mu da ku ; taffi ga, masusayesuwa, ku saye na kanku. 10 Saanda 
su nka taffi ga saye, ango ya sakka, woddanda su ka yi shiri su ka taffi tare da shi wuri 
amire, kofa na rufeh. u Yautshe su nsakka wodda nsu budurai, su nka tshe, Obangissi, 
Obangissi, bodeh ma mu. 12 Amma ya amsa, ya tshe ma su, gaskia, natshe ma ku, ba na 
san'nku ba. 13 Donghakka ku yi dzaro, dong ba ku sani rana ba, ko lotto, yaushe dah- 
mutum shi isakka. 

The Haussa is one of the most widely-extended languages of Western Africa. It commences at 
Fundah, and, following the course of the river Chadda, is used at Jacoba, Buzum, Aja, Kerbi, Shera, 
and other places. On the east, it is conterminous with the Bornu; and on the west, with the Yoruba 



Class VL] TIMMANEE. 413 

languages: its extension north and west is undetermined. Although spoken by a people of pure 
negro race, it has grammatical affinities with the Shemitic languages. Its pronouns and a few of its 
words are of undoubted Shemitic origin ; but it is difficult to trace the etymology of Haussa words, on 
account of the alterations to which they are subjected in accordance with the euphonic laws of the 
language. The prepositions are similar to the Berber; and Haussa adjectives, like the Berber, are 
very few in number, the deficiency being supplied in both languages by means of a periphrasis, con- 
sisting of the relative and verb. In Haussa there is neither definite nor indefinite article. Their place 
is supplied by personal or demonstrative pronouns. There are two numbers, singular and plural; but 
the formation of the plural is so irregular, that it is difficult to give special rules for it. The Haussa 
seems, in this respect, to partake of the multiplicity of Arabic plurals in the so called broken form. 
Thus, e.g. a'iki, work, plural a'ikoki; dutshi, stone, plural duasu; sa'ifa, spleen, plural sa'ifqfi; etc. As 
to genders, there are two, masculine and feminine; they are distinguished from each other by certain 
words prefixed, and by a change of termination, especially in adjectives, 

There is, strictly speaking, no declension of nouns in Haussa. The cases are expressed by pre- 
positions, or by the place words occupy in the sentence. Adjectives do not differ in termination from 
verbs or nouns, and the degrees of comparison are expressed by 'j?,' to excel, and ' duha,' all, respec- 
tively. The pronouns are indeclinable, and verbs, as far as the language is known at present, do not 
seem to express mood, tense, or number, by inflection, but by the addition of letters and particles, and by 
the aid of the personal pronouns which accompany the verb both in its active and passive form. There 
are some auxiliary verbs, very irregular in their formation; and the most common form of active verbs 
is thus conjugated: Pres. Ina soh, I am loving; Pret. Na soli, I loved; Fut. Ni isoh, I shall love, etc. 

The Gospel according to St. Matthew was translated into this language prior to the year 1841, by 
the Eev. Mr. Schon, of the Church Missionary Society. He was aided by the Eev. Samuel Crowther, 
whose native language is Yoruba, and whose knowledge of that idiom tended to illustrate obscurities 
in Haussa. Mr. Schon is still prosecuting the translation of the Scriptures, under the auspices of the 
Church Missionary Society. The book of Genesis was first completed, and an edition of 500 copies 
was printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1857. The book of Exodus has been sub- 
sequently printed. The Gospel of St. John, and the Acts, have also passed through the press. 



TIMMANEE. 

Timmani is a small country on the coast of Western Africa, watered by the Scarcies and the Lower 
Rokelle, and adjoining Sierra Leone. The language is a Mandingo dialect. A version of the Gospel 
according to St. Luke in this dialect has been prepared by the Rev. Messrs. Schlenker and Schmid, 
agents of the Church Missionary Society, but it has not yet been committed to the press. Mr. Schmid 
has subsequently translated the Epistle to the Romans into the Timmanee language. A small book, 
containing extracts from the Scriptures, with Prayers and Hymns for the use of the school at Port 
Lokkoh, has been printed by the Church Missionary Society; and this, with the translation of 
St. Matthew's Gospel, executed in 1848 by Mr. Schlenker, but not yet printed, comprises all that has 
hitherto been effected towards bestowing the Scriptures on this negro nation. One cause of the 
opposition encountered by missionaries in this country is the prevalence of Mohammedanism, in the 
lax profession of which many of the Timmanees live. 



414 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 



B A 8 S A. 

Bassa is spoken in a tract of the sea-coast, about forty miles in length, in lat. 5° N., and long. 10° W. : 
this district is now included in the flourishing colony of Liberia. How far the Bassa language 
extends into the interior of the continent is unknown. The people to whom it is vernacular reside 
chiefly along the coast, and are now estimated at about 125,000 individuals; their numbers have been 
greatly diminished by the slave trade. The language is closely allied to the Mandingo, and belongs 
to the Grebo family. The Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, with the Acts of the Apostles, have 
been printed in Bassa, at the expense of the Rhenish Missionary Society; and other portions of the 
sacred volume, translated by the Rhenish missionaries, are said to be now in a state of preparation for 
the press. 



GEE BO. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. LUKE, Chap. vi. v. 27 to 36. 

27 Nema lele ahmonh ne, ahmu no wenh te nenonh, bah nowane ah nyenhoh, bah 
nu nyono nyenh ahmonh, hanhka. 28 Bah blese nyono oh gididi ahmonh, nenh bah 
bade Nyesoa ko nyono nyinene ahmonh na ah ta. 29 Nenh nya ba podeo moh de gabwa 
na, tede na. abe ye : nenh nya ba ha moh nah swenh daro kwa, nah ka na ye, ko na kade 
ah ta ye. 30 Bah hnyi nyebo biye no ideda moh ; nenh nya ba ha moh nah teble kwa, 
nah idae na eh te n& de. 31 Nenh tine ah ide nyebo boh nu ahmonh ma, kre bah nu no 
ye. 32 Kare boh nowane nyono, oh nowane ahmonh, bisida bee ah kae? kare kbiine 
nyineoh nowane nyono oh nowane no ne, ye. 33 Nenh bah nu nyono ni ahmonh hanh 
ka donh, hanh ka, bisida bee ah kae? kare kbiine nyineoh ni ne ne ye. u Nenh nyono 
ah wore pona, oh di ahmonh peema, oh donh ka ahmonh he, bah yi teble hie, bisida bee, 
ah kae? kare kbiine nyineoh hie kbiine nyineoh ah teble ne, boh mu eh tee yi ah ta. 
35 Nema bah nowane ah nyenhoh, bah nu no hanh ka, nenh bah hie teble, ah wore nah 
ida eh te na de : nenh ah peeda muwa boa, nenh pie bah muwa Hiya ah iru nu ; kare a 
na woro ko nyono neh ze na, oh ka kbiine nyineoh he ma. 36 Hede bah po nyebo wore 
ma na, tine, ah Buo ni wa wore ma na popoe. 

The Grebo language is predominant in the immediate vicinity of Cape Palmas, and is supposed to 
extend considerably into the interior: it prevails from Sinou to Bareby, but its precise area is undeter- 
mined. Tribes of this family are to be met with from Grand Cape Mountain on the north to St. Andrew's 
on the Ivory Coast. The Grebo people have, in general, less intelligence than their neighbours: they 
are pagans, but possess no fixed system of idolatry, each individual adopting such notions and practices 
as accord with his own fancy. Their mode of political government is equally anomalous: they have 
no system of legislation whatever, but live in disorderly masses, without rulers; those who bear the 
name of chiefs having a mere nominal authority. 



Class VI.] ACCRA. 415 

The Grebo is a cognate language with the Vei spoken at Grand Cape Mountain, the Dey spoken 
by the former inhabitants of Cape Mesurado, the dialects of Drewin and St. Andrew's, the Bassa, and 
the Km, all of which are usually included in the Grebo family. The Grebo is characterised by many 
difficult nasal and guttural sounds, by a disproportion of monosyllabic words, and by great deficiency 
in inflections. It possesses, however, a variety of tenses, whereby the time of an action can be expressed 
with singular precision. In a negative verbal proposition, the particle of negation takes the tense 
inflection instead of the verb. Many of the words of this language have no fixed office, but are 
employed indiscriminately as nouns, adjectives, particles, and verbs. 

The first translation of the Gospel into Grebo was made by the aid of the American Board of 
Missions: the Gospel according to St. Matthew was printed, and the Acts translated, prior to the year 
1840. This edition of St. Matthew consisted of 1000 copies. In 1848, the Gospel according to 
St. Luke was translated from the original by the Rev. John Payne, an agent of the Protestant Episcopal 
Missionary Society of America, and an edition was printed at the expense of the American Bible 
Society. The following portions of Scripture have also been translated and published, at the expense 
of the American Bible Society, in the Grebo language : — 

Acts, by the Rev. Theodore Schulz, in 1802: — New York, 1850 
Genesis, by the Kev. John Payne, ditto 1850 

Acts, by ditto ditto 1851 



ACCRA. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Tshiitshii klengkleng lu Wiema hi ia, ni Wiema lu ke Niingmk ia, ni Wiema lu 
dzhi Niingmk. 2 Lu tshiitshii klengkleng hi e ke Niingmk ia. 3 Lu fe nj pia, ni a' shj lu 
a fe-e nako 'ni a' fe. 4 E mli hiekamk ia, ni hekamk hi dzhi gbamej a la. 5 Ni la lu 
tshba ie dung mli, ni dung lu enana. 6 E' babamli ake a tshii nu kb kedzhS Nungm& 
nga, a tshe hi Dzhon. 7 E' ba bdase iere, koni e ie la hi bdase, koni [mej] pia 'a heaie 
i& e hewa. 8 Dzhe lu dzhi la lu, shi [e ba] la lu bdase iere. 9 No dzhi la anctkua lu 'ni 
tshoa ha-a ['mej] pia 'ni ba-a dzheng lu. 10 E x ie dzhe lu mli, ni lu fe dzhe lu, ni dzhe 
lu le lu. " E ba ludientsh^-e-na nga, ni ludientshe-e-na here-e lu. 12 Shi 'mej-a-ba 'ni 
here lu [lu], e ha [amme] hegbe ake amme 'a fe Niingmci bj, 'mej 'ni heaiea i^ e gbei n^ 
[lu]. 13 Dzhe la, '15 hewulo sumama, 'lo nu siimama, shi Niingm^ni k' fa amme. u Ni 
a' fe Wiema lu hewulo, ni e hi wk teng, ni wk na e he-na-woma lu, ake Tshe lu bi 'kome- 
'ni-a-fa lu he-nk-woma lu, ke iaka-nake, ke ankkua obo. 

Accra (or, more properly, Ghah) has been ascertained by recent discoveries to be the spoken language 
of a trading people on the Gold Coast of Africa numbering from 60,000 to 80,000 souls. The town 
of Accra, in the immediate neighbourhood of which this dialect is most extensively prevalent, lies on 
the meridian of Greenwich, in north latitude. Both the British and Dutch governments maintain 
stations at this place. 

The Rev. A. Hanson, a native of Accra, translated the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John into 



416 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

this language; and in 1843 an edition was printed in London by the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
in Roman letters, with numerous diacritical marks. On his return to Africa the following year, Mr. 
Hanson took the copies with him for distribution among his countrymen; and he had the satisfaction 
of finding, not only that the version was thoroughly intelligible to them, but also that they were able 
(after receiving a little information concerning the system of vowel points he had adopted) to read the 
printed copies for themselves with ease and pleasure. This edition was received with much joy and 
thankfulness by the native population, and was speedily exhausted. The agents of the Basle Missionary 
Society have been, and still are, diligently engaged in the same field of labour. The Rev. J. Zimmer- 
mann, one of their number, has devoted himself for many years past to the task of rendering the Scrip- 
tures into the Ghah language, and various portions, as soon as completed by him, have been printed at 
the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and transmitted to Africa for distribution. The 
Gospels of St. Mark and St. Luke, with a revised edition of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, 
were among the first-fruits of Mr. Zimmermann's labours, and were completed in 1855. Subsequently, 
the book of Genesis, the Epistles of St. John and St. Jude, the Revelation, and the prophets Isaiah 
and Daniel; together with (more recently) the Acts, the Epistles from I. Corinthians to II. Peter, and 
the book of Exodus, have been completed, and printed at Basle. 

Much interesting testimony to the good results which have already ensued from the dissemination 
of the Ghah version of the sacred writings is contained in recent reports of the Bible Society. The 
Word of God has struck deep root among the people of Accra, and the number of native applicants for 
baptism is rapidly on the increase. The arrival of the little volume which contained the Gospels of 
St. Matthew and St. John was welcomed, both by young and old, with lively joy, and all were anxious 
to begin its diligent perusal. 



FANTEE. 

The Fantees are the most powerful people on the Gold Coast, a section of which they occupy. They 
reside chiefly in the immediate vicinity of Cape Coast, including Dixcove and Anamaboe. In number 
they amount to between 800,000 and 1,000,000: but they have never been united into one compact 
political body, their government being in the hands of inferior chiefs, who possess an almost indepen- 
dent and despotic jurisdiction over limited districts. The Fantees were originally one people with the 
Ashantees, but many centuries have elapsed since their separation. They are pagans, and very super- 
stitious, and are still in a state of semi-civilisation. Fantee is a soft and harmonious language, and is 
closely connected in structure and idiom with all the other languages of Ashantee, except the Accra. 
It has no article, and no terminational variations to express the distinctions of case. The possessive 
case is marked either by the mere collocation of words, or else by affixing an abbreviation of the relative 
pronoun. The plural is formed by prefixing the syllable im or in to the singular noun. Conjugation 
is carried on, as in Mandingo, by means of the pronouns, which undergo certain changes to denote the 
variations of tense, while the verb itself remains unaltered. 

An introductory work to the Accra and Fantee languages, containing among other things a 
translation of the Ten Commandments, was published at Copenhagen in 1764, by order of the King of 
Denmark, Five or six chapters of the Gospel of St. John have been translated into Fantee by the 
Rev. Mr. Hanson, but they have not yet been committed to the press, and the Fantees are still destitute 
of printed copies of the Scriptures in their own language. 



Class VI.] ASHANTEE. 417 



ASHANTEE, OR ODJII. 

The Ashantee kingdom comprises a considerable portion of the maritime district generally known as 
the Guinea Coast: including its dependencies, this kingdom extends over 70,000 square miles, and is 
the area of at least six or seven different languages. The population of Ashantee Proper, according to 
Bowdich, amounts to 1,000,000, but the entire empire may be said to contain a population of at least 
3,000,000. Mohammedanism has made some progress in this country, but the prevailing form of 
superstition is Feticism, with which many sanguinary and revolting rites are connected. The 
immolation of human victims is practised on many public occasions; and when the king dies, 
Ashantee becomes one vast Aceldama. But the inhuman atrocities to which this nation is addicted 
have of late years been repressed by the efforts of the missionaries stationed in this benighted land. 

The language distinguished as " Ashantee Proper, or Odjii," is spoken in the south of Asante 
(Ashantee), in Fantee, in Akim, in Akwapim, and in Akwam. There are trifling dialectic differences 
in the language spoken in these several districts; but it may be considered, nevertheless, one and the 
same with the Akwapim or Odjii, the best cultivated of them all. Dr. Beecham, who at one time 
had an intelligent Fantee and two Ashantees residing under his roof, observed that they could all 
converse together with nearly as much ease as if they had been natives of the same district; and it is 
said that natives of Ashantee who occasionally visit the coast, and the people in the neighbourhood of 
Cape Coast Castle, have little difficulty in understanding each other. The sounds of the Odjii language 
are expressed by 26 letters. It has neither number nor case; and the plural is formed by the addition 
and alteration of initial syllables: e. g. popa, a palm branch, pi. empopa; ata, turn, pi. enta, turns; bo, 
stone, pi. abo, stones; ti, head, ati, heads; vurow, a nail, aivurow, nails, etc. In verbs, the conjugation 
is formed not by final terminations, as in most European languages, but by initial augments, thus : 
mi-ko, I go, wo-ko, thou goest, o-ko, he goes, etc. 

In 1846, the missionaries of the Basle Missionary Society commenced the preparation of a version 
of the New Testament into Ashantee, and completed the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke. The 
Eev. Mr. Riis, one of the translators, formerly stationed at Acropong (not very distant from Accra), 
subsequently prepared a grammar and lexicon of the Odjii language, embracing eight dialects. More 
recently, the Rev. Mr. Christaller (one of the German missionaries stationed at Acropong, but who has 
been compelled to return to Europe on account of his health) has prosecuted the task of Scripture 
translation into the Odjii tongue, and as the work progresses, consecutive portions will be printed at 
Basle imder his superintendence. The portions of the Odjii version already printed comprehend the 
Four Gospels and the Acts. The translation of the Psalms into Odjii has been commenced by the 
Rev. F. A. Mader, at present stationed at Acropong. 



28 



418 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

DUALLA. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. 

Ibe Jisos a enino dimuti, a taabua o moi o molongo. ndi ibe a gaino wasi, ba becoele 
bau, ba poino na mo. 2 Ndi, a tauta molumbu mau, a talea babo, a ona. 3 Batuidi, ba 
si bwa sise o molema, ba namidi, ebanja ecumbu ya loba ei yabu. 4 Babo ba lebe o 
molema, ba namidi, ebanja ba o embabe o milema. 5 Batu ba pi, ba namidi, ebanja ba 
o bene mo muindi. 6 Babo ba bei njai na nyongi, o itesse la molema, ba namidi, ebanja 
ba o ulisabe. 7 Batu ba ndedi, ba namidi, ebanja ba o nongo ndedi. 8 Babo ba san<m 
o mileina, ba namidi, ebanja ba o ene Loba. 9 Batu ba ilattise, ba namidi, ebanja ba o 
belabe bana ba Loba. 10 Babo ba tacisabe, o nyulo o itesse la molema, ba namidi ; 
ebanja ecumbu ya loba ei yabu. n Binyo o bei moname, ibe batu ba o silese binyo, ba 
o tacisabe binyo, ba o bacele binyo o mambu ma bubi messi, o nyulo am. 12 Bwa mon- 
yenge; bwa monyenge mondene; ebanja boweni banyo, bondeni o loba; nanu ndi, ba 
tacisino baprofiti, ba seleno o boso banyo. 

The country in which the Dualla or Dewalla language is vernacular lies on the western coast of 
Africa, north, east, and south of the Cameroons River, and its area is considered to be under 1000 
square miles. The language, however, is known in districts which probably cover 5000 square miles. 
No correct statistical accounts of the Dualla tribes have been yet obtained ; but the missionaries state 
that the number of this people in the immediate vicinity of the mission-station on the Cameroons Eiver 
amounts to about 30,000. 

The Gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, have been translated into Dualla by the 
Eev. Alfred Saker, of the Baptist Missionary Society, and an edition of the Gospel of St. Matthew has 
been printed in Africa. The Scriptural knowledge imparted to the Duallas, by means of these portions 
of the Divine word, has been blessed to the spiritual enlightenment of several individuals. In 1849, 
a member of the Dualla nation, the first fruits of the mission, was baptised in the River Cameroons, 
amidst a large assemblage of his countrymen. And, apart from individual instances of conversion, a 
great change has been wrought in the general character and disposition of the nation. " Their ferocious, 
demoniacal features (says Mr. Saker) are assuming the softness of children; and those who a little time 
since sought my life, are now saying to me, ' What shall I do to be saved?'" 

A revised edition of the Gospels, together with the Acts, has been subsequently carried through 
the press by Mr. Saker, whose account of his labours is in the highest degree interesting. " I have 
translated (he remarks) every verse afresh of the Scriptures now printing, without any reference to 
anything previously printed, until each chapter has been completed and then compared." The printing 
and binding were executed at Cameroons, and by native labour. Upon visiting England in 1855, 
Mr. Saker presented to the Committee of the Baptist Missionary Society a copy of the volume in which 
these portions of the sacred word are contained, and also of the grammar of the Dualla language which 
he had compiled. These books are well printed and bound. When asked by whom the work was 
done, he replied, " By lads belonging to the Mission establishment, themselves the fruit of missionary 
labour, members of the church, not long ago ignorant barbarians; and who are now not only employed 
in these useful works, having acquired a knowledge of more trades than printing and book-binding, but 
go out on the week evenings to the suburbs of Cameroons, and on the Lord's days to the neighbouring 
villages, to preach the Gospel of Christ!" Surely this alone is a rich reward for the expense and toil 
bestowed on the mission to Western Africa; and no pious mind can reflect on a fact so striking and 
important without rejoicing in the success of which it is so signal a proof. 



Class VI.] ISTJBU. 419 

I SUB IT. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Nggombi ya boso-boso ee Ekwali, e mabe ; ee Ekwali, e mabe na Obasi, ee Ekwali, 
c mabe Obasi. 2 Oo 'ndi a mabe, 'nggombi ya boso-boso na Obasi. 3 Mambu mese, 
ma mabolabe na mo ; si mo, ke lambu, ke loko, di si bolabe. 4 Longge, di mabe na mo, 
dini longge 'ndi, di mabe moenene mo batu. 5 Mo moenene, mo matana o moititi, 'ndi 
moititi, mo si mo inggele. 6 mabe motu, dina lai Jon, a malomabe na Obasi. 7 Oo 
motu, a maya na mosunggweri i oba meanggo na mo moenene, batu bese, ba bekane o 
nyulo ya meanggo miai. 8 Momene, a si be mo moenene ; a maya i oba meanggo na 
mo moenene. 9 Moenene mo 'mbaki, mo mabe mo, a maya o mono monyanggalu, a 
boli moenene na batu bese. 10 A mabe o mono monyanggalu ; mono monyanggalu, mo 
mabolabe na mo, 'ndi batu ba mono monyanggalu, ba si mo bia. 11 A maya o yai 
ekombo, 'ndi lai itumba, di si mo inggele; 12 'Ndi bese, ba ma mo inggele, ba kamanele 
dina lai, a ma ba bola mosima, ba be bana ba Obasi. 13 Bano bana, ba si yabe na makia, 
na iemea la nyulo, na iemea la motu; ba mayabe 'ndi na Obasi. 14 'Ndi ee Ekwali, e 
matimba nyulo, e maja na iso, (di m'ene bondene boi, bondene, na bo mwana moko 
mene, a yabe na Sanggo yasu, ) a malonda na mosima na beyala bi 'mbaki. 

Isubu is spoken in a small maritime district, called Bimbia, lying at the foot of the Cameroon 
Mountains. Its population is under 10,000. Around the Cameroon Mountains there are extensive 
districts, with a scattered population, in which dialects of Isubu and Dualla are spoken. Parts of the 
Scriptures were translated into Isubu by the late Rev. Joseph Merrick, of the Baptist Missionary 
Society. This devoted missionary was of African descent, and was educated in tbe schools of the 
Baptist Society in Jamaica. He spoke the Isubu language with great precision, and spent the last 
years of his life among the Isubu tribes. He died in 1849, just as the fruit of his labours was 
ripening, and when five natives had evinced a desire to be baptised. His labours, however, have been 
continued by Mr. Saker and his fellowdabourers in the same field, and not without success. 

The portions of Mr. Merrick's labours which have been printed are the Gospels of St. Matthew and 
St. John, the book of Genesis, a portion of the book of Acts, and a series of selections from the Old 
Testament. These have issued from the local press of the Baptist missionaries. The two remaining 
Gospels have been subsequently translated, and 100 copies of the whole Gospels were completed 
in 1852. 



420 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 



FERNANDIAN, OE ADIYAH. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. 

Atshi eem bwala e aeso bohoh o basa ; ebilu la itshino, a bataki bai bea bwe ko 
peria. 2 Atshi e abodo o bweeh bwai, e aba tubairia lalo. 3 Luebwe lue betshu bo 
tobolo e iteba; ka a bebe takeidu o riata o lobako pwa. 4 Luebwe luebo beba loididi, 
ka ba lue hobahah. 6 Luebwe luebo beba bokeu o botu, ka ba na lue ela lele u boba 
pwe. 6 Luebwe luebo beba tshala, a tshila nu bedi a laba lele ama, ka ana bei bahah. 
7 Luebwe luebo bobo sa lele, ka nabe e lahah lele. 8 Luebwe luebo bokibe eteba e 
luliyai, ka a nabe elahah a Yehovah. 9 Luebwe luebo bala hoaba, ka a nabe ilelo a 
bola a Yehovah. 10 Luebwe luebo a bobah ba leili hela o bola bo sa lele: ka abe ba pru 
riata o lobako. u Luebwe lueue e bila la boie, la loika, atshi o boli hela ue, atshi na 
ohhi a la ba lama a bebe lo o keida bisoi a la ne. 12 'Minabihoh, atshi lobo lobo 
mabihoh, ka ote ote a lokoo o lubako, ka ale ili hela ali ebi, o alo boso a welo. 

The island of Fernando Po is situated in the Bight of Benin, about twenty miles distant from the 
continent, between lat. 3° 11' and 3° 47' N., and long. 8° 2-1' and 8° 56' E. It is about 120 miles in 
circumference, its greatest length from north to south being rather more than thirty-six miles, and its 
greatest breadth about thirty-one miles. 

The inhabitants of this beautiful island number 20,000. The tribe to which they belong is called 
Adiyah, and this name is often given to their language. They are a timid, inoffensive people, less 
covetous than the generality of Africans, and remarkable for simplicity and childish good nature. 
They reside principally on the sides of the mountains of which their island is composed, and generally 
at a height of from 1000 to 3000 feet above the level of the sea. There are upwards of two hundred 
villages thus scattered among the mountains, besides fishing villages; and about fifty trading ports, 
where they carry on a traffic in yams and palm oil. The government is in the hands of headmen, one 
of whom presides over each village, assisted by a certain number of counsellors selected from the aged 
and experienced. The religion of the Adiyah is the same as that of their brethren on the opposite 
shore, consisting in a rude kind of worship rendered to frightful images, and in veneration for charms 
and amulets. 

Fernando Po is a dependency of Spain; and in 1846 the missionaries labouring in the island were 
exposed to some persecution from the emissaries of that government. The Spanish consul even forbad 
the use of the Scriptures in the native schools, but was subsequently induced to withdraw the prohi- 
bition. This seeming tolerance, however, was only of brief duration. The persevering opposition of 
the Romish priesthood had been awakened by the manifest success which attended the efforts of the 
Protestant missionaries to diffuse a knowledge of the revealed Word, and the result has been, the 
enforced cessation of these important labours. The missionaries were compelled, in 18.58, to withdraw 
from the island. The Gospel of St. Matthew, printed at the expense of the Baptist Missionary Society, 
is the only part of the Fernandian version that has yet been committed to the press. The Gospel of 
St. Mark has long been translated, but is not printed, and other portions are ready for the press. 
This translation was commenced by Mr. Clarke, and is now being carried on by Mr. Sakcr, of the 
Baptist Missionary Society. 



Class VI.] MPONGWE. 421 

MPONGWE. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. LUKE, Chap. xv. v. 11 to 32. 

11 Ne be buli ye, inle onomi omari are n'anwaria anomi avani. 12 Ne be bulia onwa 
rombe, inle, rera, va mie mbeiyasika yi be jigo mie. Ne be kere sika ye gore wao avani. 
13 Ndo va intyugu yeyama iraganu, ne be bonga onwa, rombe siki ye agendaga gw'ilonga 
ila, ne be menize siki ye na ebandanie ni jonga alugu; M Gw'amenize yodu via, ne be 
bia njana mpolu gw'ilonga me ; ne be pakilia ye ni bela yama. lo Ne agandiage go doana . 
n'onomi gw'ilonga raeyana nebe tomo ye ne oma mewana go ntyaga go nyezaga ingoa ; 
16 Ne be bele jonia iAvumi nye na sinya si nyo n'ingoa; ne be doane alenga n'oma go pe 
eza inya. 17 Ndo gw'awinio ye ne ogu na, awni ye, inle, intyuri mia si re na rera si re 
ni mpemba nyenge ni nyewa yi pagaga, ndo mie piere yi juwa ni njana. 18 Mi be kumana 
agendaga gore reri yam, awalinia ye, inle, Rera, mi adendi isaun imbe g'orowa n'awe ke. 

19 Ndo mi agekizi felio, inle, onwani wa. Vauga mie ga ntyuri yi re we bonga pa mari. 

20 Ne be nongwe agendaga gore rari ye. Ndo gw'avevagi ye bo, be jeno ye no reri ye, 
ne be jene aye nkeva avulia mango azaugune go mpele we azambe. 21 Ne be wulia 
onwana, inle, Rera ! mi adeudi isaun imbe g'orowa na gore we ke, ndo mi agekizi fa felio, 
inle, onwani wa. 22 Ndo be buia reri ye awulinia intyure ye, inle, vagani ngai mbia ka 
wara ye yo ; ka fele omoro g'omeno we ka fele ntyozyo satanga gw'intyozyo ye ; 23 Ka 
vaga onwa nyare ovami ka. jona yo. Ka tiga 'zuwe nya ayena igewa. 24 Kaude onwani 
warn win& pe juwi, ka ye fa tongwa; aperi ka fa, dengo; be pakilia wao igewa. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

MPONGWE is the language of a people (heretofore generally known as the Pongos) who for more than 
two centuries have acted in the character of factors in carrying on a traffic between European traders 
and the tribes of the interior. Mpongwe towns are built on both banks of the Gaboon, but the princi- 
pal location of the people is a small tract of country at the mouth of that river, just below the Bight of 
Biafra, and about twenty miles north of the equator. In number the Mpongwes do not exceed 6000 
or 7000, but their language is spoken at Cape Lopez and St. Catherine, and likewise to some distance 
in the interior. Altogether the number of individuals who employ the Mpongwe language is supposed 
to amount to at least 200,000. 

The Mpongwes are a. peaceable and friendly people, and, though still in a state of semi-barbarism, 
are shrewder and more intelligent than most of the neighbouring nations. Their government has the 
form of a monarchy, but the power is vested in popular assemblies. Slavery and polygamy prevail 
among them, as among other African states. They have no system of religion whatever, no priesthood, 
no religious meetings, no worship or sacrifice to idols; tbe only sentiment approximating to religious 
superstition which is dominant among them is a strange feeling of veneration which they cherish 
towards old earthen jars. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

This language is closely allied to the Kisuaheli, spoken on the opposite side of the continent, and 
near the same parallel of latitude. Striking verbal and grammatical affinities connect both these lan- 
guages with the grand family of languages pervading all Africa south of the equator. On the other 
hand, no resemblances prevail between Mpongwe and the other languages of the western coast spoken 



422 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

north of the supposed Mountains of the Moon. In the possession of a part of speech called the definite 
pronoun, the Mpongwe resembles the Polynesian language: this pronoun, frequently employed in the 
place of other pronouns, is also used in the formation of the infinitive, and in the inflection of nouns 
and adjectives; and it likewise occasionally subserves the office of prepositions, and of other parts of 
speech. In respect of verbal inflections, the Mpongwe language is particularly rich and copious. There 
are, we are told, five simple conjugations, formed by final changes, which give the verb a frequentative, 
causative, relative, and indefinite sense. Each of these forms is inflected through all the moods, tenses, 
and voices: negative and passive forms are also in frequent use; and beyond these are numerous shades 
of meaning, communicated by auxiliary particles and negative intonations. Mpongwe nouns are 
divided into four classes, according to the formation of the plural, called declensions, though they have 
neither gender nor case. The first division contains nouns beginning with one or more consonants, that 
make their plural by prefixing i or si; e. g. nyare, cow, inyare or sinyare, cows. The second division 
consists of nouns that form the plural by dropping their initial e; e.g. egara, chest, pi. gam, chests. 
The third division is that of nouns that change their initial i into a ; e.g. iddmbe, sheep, pi. adambe, 
sheep. The fourth class comprises nouns that change their initial o into i or a; e.g. olonda, nut, Honda, 
nuts; onomi, man, anomi, men. Adjectives form their plural like substantives. Yet the American 
missionaries stationed in the Mpongwe country were less struck by the remarkable copiousness of this 
language than by its almost unlimited flexibility, its philosophical arrangement, and its complete sub- 
jection to euphonical principles. " Its expansions, contractions, and inflections," they remarked, " though 
exceedingly numerous, and having apparently special reference to euphony, are all governed by gram- 
matical rules, which seem to be well established in the minds of the people, and which enable them to 
express their ideas with the utmost precision. How a language so soft, so plaintive, so pleasant to the 
ear, and at the same time so copious and methodical in its inflections, should have originated, or how 
the people are enabled to retain its multifarious principles so distinctly in their minds, as to express 
their ideas with almost unvarying precision and uniformity, are points which we do not pretend to 
settle." 

Various detached portions of the Scriptures have been translated into Mpongwe by the missionaries 
of the American Board of Missions, and several printed editions of these portions have been issued at 
the expense of that Society. No less than 8000 books in the Mpongwe language (among which, how- 
ever, were elementary works on Christian instruction as well as Scriptural portions) were printed at 
the mission-press during the year 1846: the pages of these copies were altogether 155,000 in number. 
We possess no recent intelligence concerning the progress which the American missionaries may now 
have made in the translation of the New Testament into Mpongwe. 

ANOTHER SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. 
Gw'ayeni ye inlaga inyenge, avandi ye go nomba : Gw'aloani ye tu, ongili we 
w'avieni gore ye. 2 Anlungunli ogwani we, anlenja wao, inle : 3 Mongi wi re lengele 
g'orema, wi savinlo ; kande inlonga ny'orowa nyao. 4 Mongi re nlambaga, wi savinlo ; 
kande wi be sindio irema. 5 Mongi wi re ikendekende, wi savinlo; kande wi be jiga intye. 
c Mongi wi jiga njanla nl'eshone goreti, wi savinlo ; kande wi be jora : 7 Mongi re nkenga, 
wi savinlo ; kande wi be denga nkenga. 8 Mongi wi re nl'irema yi nkere, wi savinlo ; 
kande wi be jena Anyambia. 9 Mongi panga amenje, wi savinlo ; kande wi be fwelio, 
inle, awanla w' Anyambia. 10 Mongi wi kambizo g'ongwanja w'oreti, wi savinlo ; kande 
inlonga ny'orowa nyao. n Anuwe savinlo, ja onlaga w'atawa nuwe ni'agambiza nuwe 
nli bulia igambi yedu ive gore nuwe mberinlaga g'ongwanji warn. 12 Yenani mbia, ka 
tondani polo ; kaude ipi sani si re sipolo g'orow T a : kande yena agambizagi wao Iproiit 
s'alonga. 



Class VI.] SECHUANA. 423 

SECHUANA. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Lehuktj le le le mo tsimologofi, mi Lehuku le le na le Morimo, mi Lehuku e le le 
Morimo. 2 Ye, le le na le Morimo mo tsimologon. 3 Lilo code li tsa rihoa ka yeona, 
mi ga gao rihoa sepe sa tse li rihiloeii, ha e si ka yeona. 4 Botselo bo le bo le mo go 
yeona; mi botselo e le le leseri ya bathu. °Mi leseri ya phatsima mo hihin; mi lehihi 
le si ka ya le cula. 6 Gabo gole monona eo o birioan Yohane, a romiloe ki Morimo. 
7 Monona eo, o la tla go na moshupi, go shupa ga Leseri, gore botle ba rumele ka eintla 
ea gague. 8 Ena o la si Leseri ye, mi o la ronoa go shupa ga Leseri. 9 Leseri ya 
amarure, e le le ye, ye le tlan mo lehatsin, le bonisa mothu mohue le monue. 10 la le 
mo lehatsin, mi lehatsi le le rihiloe ki ena, mi lehatsi ga lea ka ya mo itse. n la tla 
go ba gague, mi ba gague, ba si ka ba mo cula. u Mi botle ba ba le ba mo cula, a ba 
naea thata go na bana ba Morimo, ebon go ba ba rumelafi mo ineh ya gague ; 1S Ba ba 
le ba sa tsaloa ka eintla ea mari, le esiii ka thato ea nama, le esiii ka thato ea mothu, mi 
e le le ka thato ea Morimo. u Mi Lehuku ya rihoa nama, mi ya aga mo go rona, (mi re 
le ra bona khalalelo ea gague; khalalelo e e cuanaii yaka ea eo o tsecoeri esi oa Kara,) 
u tletse tsegahaco le boamarure. 

I.— GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

This language is spoken by the Bechuana tribes of Southern and Central Africa: their country extends 
from the Orange Eiver to a little beyond the tropic of Capricorn, and lies between twenty-three 
and twenty-nine degrees of east longitude. On a rough calculation, it has been supposed that these 
tribes, including the Griquas on the Orange Eiver, may number from 25,000 to 30,000 individuals. 
They are still in a state of barbarism, and possess no regular system of religion or superstition. Their 
government partakes both of a monarchical and patriarchal character, each tribe being governed by 
chiefs, who are subordinate to the principal ruler, while at the same time they possess power to limit 
his authority . 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS LANGUAGE. 

The Sechuana- occupies a prominent place in the great Caffre family of languages. Its elaborate 
system of prefixes is substantially the same as the Caffre; and numerous affinities connect it with the 
Mpongwe, the Suaheli, and all the other languages of the South African countries. Various dialects 
of Sechuana are employed by the numerous tribes of this great nation, but they are all separable into 
two grand divisions, the eastern and the western stems. The former comprises the dialects of the 
Basutos, the Batlokua or Mantatees, the Batan, and of some other tribes not yet visited: the latter 
includes the dialects spoken by the Baralong, the Batlapi, the Baharuti, and by several other tribes. 
The Sechuana is of all languages of Southern Africa the most important. It is richer and softer than 
the Caffre, which has borrowed from the Hottentot language the peculiar articulation called ' click,' 
unknown in Sechuana dialects, except the Sitlokwe. The Sechuana and Caffre languages, although 
evidently of common origin, are nevertheless to be considered as distinct from each other, for all 
practical purposes. For instance, in Sechuana, there is a dual number that does not exist in Caffre, 
likewise the sound r, which is never heard in Caffre, is common in Sechuana. But the most striking 



424 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Cxass VI. 

feature of this family of languages, is the Euphonic or Alliteral Concord; by which are understood the 
changes that take place in the initial letters or syllables of words liable to inflexion, which are all 
governed by rules of euphony, very remarkable in the language of tribes apparently so far removed 
from civilisation. 

III. VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 

A version of the New Testament into the Sitlapi, a western idiom of the Sechuana language, has 
been executed by the Eev. Eobert Moffat, of the London Missionary Society. In the preparation of 
this work he had the English version ever before him : he also consulted the Dutch and some other 
versions, and occasionally referred to the German. This translation in general faithfully follows the 
English text; but some little deviations from that text occur in a few instances, occasioned by a pre- 
ference entertained by Mr. Moffat for the corresponding Dutch rendering. 

The first portion of the Sechuana version committed to the press was the Gospel of St. Luke, printed 
at Cape Town in 1831, under the personal superintendence of Mr. Moffat. It had an extensive circu- 
lation, and was exceedingly useful in laying the foundation of Christianity among the natives. 

The next was a small 8vo. volume of Scripture selections, arranged under the heads of Scripture 
History, Miracles, Doctrine, etc. A large edition of this was printed, and it is still used as the ordinary 
school book of the colony. This was followed by the publication of the whole New Testament, with 
the book of Psalms, in one volume. It was printed in London, under the eye of the translator (who 
visited England for the purpose) in 1841, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society — 
the edition consisting of 5050 copies, a large number of which have been distributed amongst the 
Bechuanas. 

From the date above mentioned down to a recent period, the labours of Mr. Moffat have been 
sedulously devoted to the task of translating the Old Testament into the Sechuana language. Different 
books, as the translation has been completed, have been printed in succession at the Kuruman mission- 
press, under the personal care and superintendence of Mr. Moffat. The last remaining portion of the 
work was completed in 1857, and that large section of the benighted population of South Africa to 
whom the Sechuana language is familiar have now the inestimable privilege of being enabled to read 
and study for themselves the entire Word of God. 

IV. — RESULTS OP THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

When the Gospel of St. Luke was the only portion of the Scriptures existing in this language, 
there was abundant evidence to prove that this single Gospel had been blessed to the conversion of 
souls. The translator, Mr. Moffat, on his visit to England, avowed that this first effort at translation 
was imperfect; "and yet (said he) I know that Gospel of St. Luke has been the means of leading many 
a wanderer to the fold of God: there are many now ready to bear testimony that it was through hearing 
this Gospel read or repeated that they were led to the knowledge of the Saviour, and the enjoyment 
of His salvation." 

Some copies of the Sechuana New Testament were several years since distributed among the 
Bakuenas, near the tropic of Capricorn, where many of the people had learned to read. The chief, a very 
intelligent man, who had been received into the church at that place, said one day, in reply to questions 
put to him by some of his chief men, " I have been taught to read; I have read this book over and over 
(pointing to the New Testament); I have read it with close attention; I understand it — though not all 
that is written, for I am yet a child; — and no man can convince me that it is not the Word of God." 
The dissemination of the New Testament in other parts of the Sechuana country has been attended 
with equally gratifying results. The Wesleyan missionaries inform us that, in the Thaba-'Nchu circuit, 
" the members of the church with but one exception, stand fast in the faith, having no disposition 
to return to the beggarly elements of the world. There is much unity of spirit among them, much 
sympathy with each other in the persecutions to which their common religion exposes them, and 



Class VI.] SISUTA. 425 

much provoking of one another to love and good works." In a later report it is said that " many of 
these native Christians might be pointed out as patterns worthy of imitation." It is very gratifying 
(remarks Mr. Moffat, in a recent communication) to observe the anxiety shown by so many of the natives 
for those parts of the Sacred Volume not yet in circulation. The New Testament has already done 
much in enlarging their hearts and teaching them their duty not only to themselves, but also to their 
fellow-men, in acts of liberality; and verily it requires great grace to accomplish this in Bechuana 
hearts. A new chapel has been completed at Thaba-'JSTchu, large enough to accommodate 2500 people, 
and this building, upon occasion of its opening, was crowded to excess. 



SISUTA, OR SESUTO. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Leinchue le ne le le tsimologong, 'me Leinchue le ne le le go Yehofa, 'me Leinchue 
e ne e le Yehofa. 2 Lona le ne le le go Yehofa tsimologong. 3 'Nto tsotle li entsoe ki 
lona, 'me gar'a lilo tse entsoeng, go si 'nto e sa etsoang ki lona. 4 Bopelo bo ne bo le 
teng go lona, 'me bopelo bo ne bo le leseri la batu. 6 'Me leseri la bontsa lefifing, 'me 
lefifi ga lea ka la le mamela. 6 Motu o ba le teng, a rumiloe ki Yehofa, lebitso la gae e 
ne e le Yoanne. 7 na tla go bolela, goba a bolele leseri, ba tie ba lumele botle ka ena. 
8 E ne e si ena leseri, 'me a na a rungoa, goba a tlo go bolela leseri. 9 Ki lona leseri la 
'niti, le bontsang motu oa emong le emong ea tlang lefatsing. 10 na le lefatsing, 'me 
lefatsi le entsoe ki ena, 'me lefatsi ga lea ka la mo tseba. u na tla go ba abo, 'me ba 
abo ba si ke ba mo enka. 12 'Me botle ba mo enkileng, o ba neile matla go ba bana ba 
Yehofa, ki bona ba lumelang lebitsong la gae. 13 Ba sa tsualoang ka mari, leha e le ka 
go-rata ga nama, leha e le ka go-rata ga monna, ba tsuetsoe ki Yehofa. u 'Me Leinchue 
le entsoe nama, 'me le agile go rona, re talimile letlotlo la lona e le letlotlo la Mora o 
notsi oa Ntate, le tletse mosa le 'niti. 

The Basutos, by whom the Sisuta language is spoken, form part of the Bechuana nation, and dwell 
between the Winterberg Mountains and the higher branches of the Yellow Eiver. There are also 
numerous tribes occupying extensive regions to the north-east of this district, as far as Sofala, by whom 
dialects are spoken differing but little from Sisuta; it is therefore anticipated that the Sisuta Scriptures 
will be found intelligible to these widely scattered tribes. 

The Sisuta is the eastern branch of the Sechuana language, and is distinguished from the western 
dialects by certain consonantal changes: thus, the h, sh, and th of the latter become / in Sisuta; 
ts becomes p, r is changed into Z, and sometimes into s, and the strong guttural of the west is converted 
into a soft aspirate. These changes have the effect of rendering Sisuta a soft and harmonious language, 
and comparatively easy of enunciation. In these respects Sisuta resembles the Caffre language. 

The Gospel of St. Matthew was translated and printed in Sisuta in the year 1837, by 
M. M. Pelissier, Arbousset, and Casalis, three missionaries of the French Protestant Evangelical Mis- 
sionary Society. Small detached portions of the New Testament were afterwards given to this people 
at irregular intervals; but in 1849 they were in possession only of the Four Gospels in their own lan- 
guage. The perusal of the Gospels excited in them an ardent desire to read the whole Word of God, 



426 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

and induced them to seek earnestly instruction in the English language. " Having already (says their 
missionary) tasted the fruit of the tree of life, as offered them in the portions of Scripture translated 
into Sisuta, they naturally wish for more; and many of them take the shortest way of obtaining their 
desire, by studying the language which contains the whole Bible, thus plucking the fruit without the 
assistance of others." It is satisfactory to know that aid has been afforded to this interesting people by 
the British and Foreign Bible Society, and that the entire New Testament, in Sisuta, has since been 
printed in Africa, at the press of the French Society. An edition of 4000 copies of the Psalms has 
subsequently been printed at the Plaatberg Wesleyan mission-press, at the cost of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society, and 2500 copies of the Sesuto Pentateuch are at the present time (1860) in 
course of execution there, also at the cost of the Society. The missionaries assure us, that " the seed 
of the Divine word has not been scattered in vain among the Basuto tribes;" and that " great is already 
the number of those who delight in reading- the oracles of God." 



C AFFHE, OK KAFIR. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Ekuqalekeni ubeko u-Lizwi, no-Lizwi waeNOTixo, waeNGUTixo u-Lizwi kanjalo. 
2 Kwa yena waeko ekuqalekeni notixo. 3 Zonke izinto zadalwa nguye ; akwadalwa 'nto 
edaliweyo engeko yena. 4 Kwa kuye bekuko ubomi ; ubomi obo babulukanyiso lwabantu. 
5 Lwalukanyisela ebumnyameni olokanyiso, kanti ubumnyama abuluqondaga. G Kube 
kuko indoda itunyiwe ngutixo, egama lingu-Iohane. 7 Weza lowo abe linqina, ukuze 
anqine ngalo ukanyiso, ukuba bakolwe ngaye abantu bonke. rf Ebengelulo ololukanyiso 
yena, koko etunyiwe ukuza kunqina ngalo ukanyiso. 9 Olo lwalukanyiso lwenyaniso, 
olunkanyisa bonke abantu abezayo emhlabeni. 10 Wabako emhlabeni, nomhlaba wadalwa 
nguye, kanti umhlaba awumazanga. n Weza kokwake, kanti abake abaraankelanga. 
12 Kodwa abo basukuba bemamkele, wabanika amandhla okuba babe lusapo Lukatixo, 
kwa abakolwayo egameni lake : 13 Abangazalwanga ngamagazi, nangentando yennyama, 
nangentando yomntu, bazelwe ngotixo kupela. 14 Waza u-Lizwi waba yinnyama, wahlala 
pakati kwetu, (sasibona ubungcwalisa bake tina, ubungewalisa obunjengobozelweyo 
emnye nguyise), ezele lufefe nennyaniso. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Caffre, with its cognate languages, is spoken under the tropic of Capricorn, and prevails over nearly 
an equal extent of territory on both sides of that line. This great family comprises all the languages 
of Africa spoken south of the supposed Mountains of the Moon, including the Sechuana dialects, and 
those spoken by the negroes of Mozambique; likewise the Kisuaheli and its allied languages, predomi- 
nant on the eastern coast, and the languages of Congo, Angola, and Loango, countries long ago de- 
scribed by Portuguese writers. 

The Caffre branch of this widely-diffused family prevails in Caffraria, or Caffre-land, a country 
occupying an area of about 25,000 square miles in the south-east of Africa. It is bounded on the 
north-west by a range of mountains called the Storm-bergen, beyond which, stretching towards the 
interior, is the territory occupied by the Bechuana tribes. Its western limit is the Keiskamma, by 



Class VI] CAFF RE. 427 

which it is separated from the Cape colony. On the north-east it is bounded by the colony of Natal, 
and on the south-east its shores are washed by the Indian Ocean. Since the war of 1846 a consider- 
able portion of this territory (embracing the tract lying between the Great Kei and Keiskamma Rivers) 
has been ceded to England, and is now designated British Caffraria: the tribes by whom it is occupied 
are recognised as British subjects, and, as far as practicable, are governed by British laws. 

The great majority of this bold and warlike race have, however, been allowed to retain their 
independence, and are still governed, as from time immemorial, by their native chiefs: the power of 
these chiefs is controlled by a body of counsellors, composed of old men and favourite courtiers, and 
their palaver is held in the open air, like the ancient Soman forum. They are a pastoral people, but 
they cultivate the soil, and subsist partly on the fruits of their labour, and partly on the produce of 
the chase. They frequently plunder each other, and their wars are fierce and sanguinary. Keligion 
they have none, — no priest, no altar, no temple; and a knowledge of a Great First Cause is almost 
obliterated from their minds. They do not even possess a word in their language to denote the 
Supreme Being: those individuals who have imbibed the idea of the existence of God from the 
neighbouring nations, call Him ' Thiko, a corruption of a Hottentot word, signifying " one that induces 
pain." Amulets and charms are, however, revered by the Caffres: and the sorcerers and rain-makers 
possess the power over their deluded followers that is elsewhere exercised by a corrupt priesthood. 

The CafFre nation is supposed to number about 1,000,000 individuals, including the Zulus, a 
people who are found chiefly within the limits of the British colony of Natal (where they have been 
stated to number not less than 120,000), and who speak a dialect of the Caffre language. The Caffres 
themselves are divided into four distinct clans or tribes, namely, the Amakosa or Caffres properly so 
called, the Amatemboo or Tambookies, the Amanbambo or Mambookies, and the Anapondo. To 
these must be added the Fingoes (literally Dogs), a people consisting of the remnants of clans formerly 
settled in the interior, but driven from their country by the Zulus, and compelled to seek refuge in 
Caffraria and the adjacent parts of the Cape colony. Of these the greater portion reside in the territory 
between the Keiskamma and the Great Fish Rivers; and many live in different parts of the colony, 
where they find employment as servants or day-labourers. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

There are certain peculiarities which distinguish Caffre and its cognate languages from all other 
known languages: these peculiarities consist in the system of prefixes and the alliterative concord, — 
ingenious contrivances, by means of which the whole machinery of declension and conjugation is 
almost exclusively conducted. The prefixes are inseparably connected with the nouns ; verbs, adverbs, 
and other parts of speech, becoming nouns on receiving these adjuncts. Nouns seldom appear without 
prefixes; in fact, if divested of them, they are as incomplete as a Greek crude root, such as tvtt— , \oy-, 
with the non-radical part omitted. Hence the prefix is joined even to foreign words received into the 
language, and such forms as umpriest, umpharisee, are frequently to be met with. The alliterative 
concord is an assimilation which takes place between the initial letters of words grammatically connected 
in a sentence, the word governed generally changing its initial into that of the word by which it is 
governed. The following are specimens of this curious arrangement : — 

Zonke iziuto ezilungileyo rivela ku-Tixa: 
All good things proceed from God. 
i?aza &apendula bonke aiantu b&ti : 
Then answered all the people, and said. 

This uniform system of alliteration is sustained in every syntactical combination that can take place in 
the language, rendering it necessary, in order to ensure correctness in writing or speaking, that the 
following points should be ascertained: 1st, the principal or governing word in a sentence; 2nd, the 
principal letter in that word, to the sound of which the initial letters or syllables of the other words 



428 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

must be assimilated; 3rd, the changes which must be made in the initial letters or syllables of the 
■word which is governed by this euphonic concord; 4th, the words which remain uninfluenced by 
this euphonic concord. The CafFre language, says Mr. Appleyard, is also distinguished by a remark- 
able precision of expression, the minuteness with which ideas are expanded and developed being often 
almost extreme. This is accomplished mainly by the agency of the verb and its various tenses and 
forms of tenses, which are possessed of almost unlimited power in the modification and ramification 
of an idea. 

Some affinity has been found to exist between Caffre and Coptic, and several words of Arabic 
origin have been detected in Caffre; but these latter have been engrafted on the language, and do not 
enter into its elemental structure. A resemblance has, however, been traced between the CafFre and 
the Shemitic class of languages, more particularly as it regards the different forms of the verb in 
general, and the peculiar usages of some verbs in particular, together with many of the constructions 
of the relative and other pronouns. This similarity in idiom, combined with other circumstances, has 
led to the inference that the CafFre nation is of Ishmaelitish descent. CafFre is allied to the Hottentot 
language in the possession of three clicks — peculiar sounds imperfectly represented by the letters c, g, 
and x: these sounds have, in all probability, been borrowed from the Hottentots; for in proportion to 
the remoteness of the CafFre from the Hottentot districts, the clicks decrease in frequency. With the 
exception of these clicks, which are apt to produce an unpleasant hiatus, especially in singing, CafFre is 
a soft and harmonious language, its abundance of vocalic and liquid sounds rendering it very pleasant 
to the ear. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

This language was reduced to writing by the Kev. W. B. Boyce, a Wesleyan missionary, author 
of the first CafFre grammar; but the first books of elementary and Scriptural instruction in CafFre were 
printed by the agents of the Glasgow Missionary Society. A translation of the Scriptures was 
commenced in the year 1830 by three Wesleyan missionaries, the Eev. William Shaw, the Rev. 
W. J. Shrewsbury, and the Kev. W. B. Boyce; and in the course of four years a version of the Old 
and New Testaments was completed, by the united labour of these individuals. This translation, how- 
ever, formed but the basis of that eventually published, for it was subjected to repeated revisions: all 
the Wesleyan missionaries in South Africa co-operated in emending and improving it, and not a page 
was suffered to be printed till its correctness had been tested by competent native authorities. The 
revision, thus laboriously conducted, delayed the publication of the work: a few detached portions 
were issued at intervals from the press, but it was not till 1841 that the complete version of the New 
Testament was published. The edition consisted of 500 copies, and was printed at the Wesleyan 
Mission press. . 

The zeal of the Wesleyan missionaries in removing every inaccuracy from their version did not 
cease with its publication. The translation had been drawn partly from the English version, partly 
from Bloomfield's Greek New Testament: it was again rigorously compared with the original; the 
occasional labours of twelve missionaries were bestowed on the work of revision ; and during several 
years one missionary was annually set apart by the Wesleyan Society to devote his time and energies 
to the improvement of the CafFre text. By these continuous efForts, a new and highly-improved trans- 
lation was gradually eliminated from the old; and at length, in 1845, the CafFre New Testament, having 
received all the emendations which advanced acquaintance with the language could suggest, was issued 
in an edition of 3000 copies from the Wesleyan Mission press. The British and Foreign Bible Society 
contributed the munificent sum of £1000, besides several grants of paper, towards the translation of 
the " whole Bible" into this language: all the other expenses were borne by the Wesleyan Missionary 
Society. The entire version of the New Testament is the work of Wesleyan missionaries, with the 
exception of the First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians, and the Epistles to the Galatians, 
Ephcsians, and Hebrews, which were contributed by the Rev. Mr. Dohene, of the Berlin Missionary 



Class VI.] CAFF RE. 429 

Society. This version is used by the agents of the London, Glasgow, and German Missionary Societies, 
and by all missionaries labouring among the Caffre tribes; it is, in fact, the only version of the Caffre 
New Testament in existence, no other translation having been made, except some portions executed by 
the Scotch missionaries. The Gospel of St. Mark was printed at Cape Town, in 1841, by the Glasgow 
Society, and the Epistles to the Thessalonians, and perhaps to the Colossians, form the only other 
portions that have been published by the Scotch missionaries. 

A new (and again carefully revised) edition of the Caffre New Testament, consisting of 2000 
copies, was completed in 1854 at the Mount Coke Wesleyan mission-press, the British and Foreign 
Bible Society having liberally aided in its production by a grant of paper. Another edition of 6000 
copies has since been completed in England, at the sole charge of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society. Meanwhile, the Wesleyan missionaries stationed in Caffraria have been diligently proceeding 
with the translation of the Old Testament, many of the books of which have been issued in detached 
portions. The entire Old Testament, in progress at the Mount Coke press from 1854 to 1859, was 
finished in the latter year, and has been issued in a complete form. Throughout this work, a similar 
rigid process of revision to that adopted in the case of the New Testament has been followed. The 
translation has been prepared from the Hebrew text of Van der Hooght, edited by Judah d'Allemand, 
and a rule was enforced, as in the case of the New Testament, to admit no rendering into the Caffre 
translation which does not occur either in the English, the Dutch, or the German versions. 

Assistance has within a recent period been granted by the American Bible Society towards the 
task of preparing portions of the Scriptures for the use of the Zulu Caffres. The Gospel of St. 
Matthew has been already translated and printed, and other portions of the Bible are in progress. The 
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge have recently printed, at the request of the Bishop of 
Natal, a translation of the Acts of the Apostles into the Zulu language as spoken in the diocese of 
Natal. The analogies between the dialect spoken by the Zulu Caffres and other members of the Caffre 
family are so great as to have raised the question whether one version may not serve for both people; 
and although the inquiries prosecuted by a committee appointed for the purpose by the Cape Town 
Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society lead to the conclusion that such a combination is 
impracticable at present, yet a strong impression as to its ultimate attainment is admitted to prevail. 
Other portions of the Bible, translated into the Zulu-Caffre dialect, are now in process of preparation 
by the Bishop of Natal. ' 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERS [ON. 

In 1845, it was computed that at the various mission-stations established in Caffraria, there were 
at least 5000 or 6000 natives capable of reading the Word of God. Within later years, education had 
made much progress among them, and both children and adults manifested increasing attachment to 
the Word of God. When, during the Caffre war, the Butterworth station was threatened with destruction, 
and the inhabitants compelled to seek safety in flight, the Fingoe children rushed to the chapel, seized 
their Testaments, and ran off with them, determined not to leave behind what they deemed so precious. 
The complete edition of the Caffre New Testament is sought after with great avidity by young and old, 
who willingly pay the price at which it is sold out of their comparatively scanty means. The spiritual 
light derived from the perusal of this divine book is rapidly occasioning the disappearance of heathen 
superstitions. One of the brothers of the chief Faku, in his last illness, sent for the missionary and 
native preachers to converse with him about " that Saviour who died for sinners ;" and although for 
three days the principal men of his tribe importuned him to send for the " witch doctor," that the 
persons supposed to have bewitched him might be detected and slain, he strenuously opposed their 
entreaties ; and a little before he died, he charged his sons to take care that no man should be killed 
on his account : for he said, " I am a man of the Word of God." Many Caffres and Fingoes " are 
beginning to enquire after God, and are seeking admission into the Christian Church:" and the 



430 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

Wesleyan and other missionaries, who labour among this people, state that, "in the great objects of 
their mission they are prospering, and have prospects of still further prosperity." 

The advance of missionary labour sustained a severe check from the renewal of warfare between 
the Caffres and the British authorities during the years 1851-3, the consequences which were, for a 
time, highly disastrous. Nearly all the missionaries of every Society labouring in British Caffraria 
were obliged to quit the scene of their labours, some at the hazard of their lives, and others at the 
sacrifice of their property. This disturbed state of things is now, however, happily at an end, and the 
peaceful labours of the preacher of Gospel truth are again progressing and prospering. Those 
of the natives who were in Christian fellowship commanded the admiration of all who witnessed 
their stedfastness and devotion to the cause of truth. At Clarkebury (in CafTraria Proper) the converts 
"nobly maintained their Christian character in the midst of the scorn and derision of the heathen around 
them." Not a single ca'se of apostacy had occurred: the school continued to be taught; the attendance, 
notwithstanding the unsettled state of the country, was regular; and the services of the sanctuary were 
accompanied with an evident blessing. 



N A M A Q U A. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. vi. v. 9 to 13. 

Ziitaa iip, nanoepna hap, zaa onsta annoe annoehii. Zaa koeoep ha, zaa kaup nii 
ii, nanoepna koemmi, 'natszii oonna hoepy. . Neezeep ziitaa beereeba maataa. Ore 
ziitaa zuritin oenniibataa, ziitaa zuritiaun nataara oenniiba koemmi. Taa 'aygga oaapna 
kay kwiitaa, gawee 'ayggapgoe ooreetaa. Zaap ke koeoeba, ore kayp ore kay kayp 
tazeekatip na ammap. 

The Namaquas are a branch of the great Hottentot nation, and possess all the physical characteristics 
of that singular race. Their country, through which they are only thinly scattered, occupies a con- 
siderable section of the south-western coast of Africa, extending from Cape colony on the south to the 
Hill Damaras on the north; the eastern boundary is formed by an extensive sandy desert, called by 
Mr. Campbell the Southern Sahara. The number of individuals composing the Namaqua tribes has 
never been ascertained. They are a pastoral people, and subsist chiefly on their cattle: they often 
endure great sufferings from the want of water, their country being emphatically a "land of droughts." 
Enervated by the heat of their climate, they are weaker and less courageous than the bold and warlike 
Caffres; but although sunk into the most deplorable state of ignorance and superstition, they are mild 
and peaceable in their demeanour, and are seldom guilty of cruel or sanguinary deeds. The Namaqua 
language is also used by the Hill Damaras, who are said to belong to the negro race. That the same 
language should be vernacular to two people of distinct families is probably in this case to be accounted 
for by their near neighbourhood, and frequent intercourse during several centuries. Dutch is now 
rapidly superseding the Namaqua, and there is every probability that the latter language will soon sink 
entirely into disuse. 

I. — CHARACTERISTICS OP THE LANGUAGE. 

Namaqua is akin to the dialects of the Hottentots, Koranas, and Bushmen, and is supposed to be 
a species of degenerated Caffrc, just as the language of the Bushmen is a degraded kind of Hottentot. 
Some authors, however, maintain that the Hottentot with its cognate dialects forms a distinct group, 



Class VI.] NAM A QUA. 431 

which, from its prevailing characteristic, they denominate the " Click family." Like the Hottentot 
language, now nearly extinct, Namaqua is harsh and inharmonious in sound, abounding in clicks and 
rough gutturals. The clicks appear to have originated with the Hottentot race, and to have passed 
from them into the languages of the neighbouring tribes. These peculiar sounds are considered by the 
natives as ornamental to their language, but they are extremely difficult of enunciation to a foreigner; 
they are produced " by the suction of air on a sudden withdrawal of the tongue from the teeth, after 
compressing it upon them." 

II. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew into Namaqua was commenced by the Rev. C. Albrecht 
in 1815, but does not appear to have been completed. Ten years subsequently, a translation of the 
Four Gospels was effected by the Rev. Mr. Schmelin, of the London Missionary Society, " after 
incredible labour (we are told) on the part of the translator and his wife, arising from the peculiar 
structure of the language." This version was printed at Cape Town, at the expense of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society. As this was the first work ever printed in the Namaqua language, it was 
thought advisable to confine the edition to 300 copies. The Gospel of St. Luke was afterwards 
re-translated by Mr. Knudsen, a Rhenish missionary, the former translation being considered deficient 
in certain consonants representative of the clicks, and an edition was printed in 1846. The use of 
this latter version seems to have been chiefly confined to the Rhenish Society's stations in Namaqua-land. 
The operations of the schools conducted by the Wesleyan Missionary Society have hitherto been carried 
on almost exclusively in the Dutch language. The Rev. Henry Tindall, who has for many years been 
engaged there in missionary labours, and who has been accustomed to speak the language from his 
youth, has recently engaged in the task of translating portions of the New Testament into the Namaqua 
tongue, and it is in contemplation to print, at Cape Town, at least one of the Gospels from his version. 
Some slight differences of opinion, however, exist between Mr. Tindall and the missionaries of the 
Rhenish Society, relative to points of orthography, and he is desirous that these should be settled before 
committing any part of his work to the press. It is estimated, that there are at present upwards of 
20,000 individuals who can receive instruction only in the Namaqua tongue; and independently of the 
desirableness, in a philological point of view, of preserving some memorial of the language itself, it is 
important that a few at least of the principal books of Scripture should be printed, as soon as possible, 
for their use. 

SPECIMEN, PEOM ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Koeroep nas ke koemssa ha ore koemss ke Tsoeikwap dewa hai, siihii koemss ke 
Tsoeikwaza. 2 Nees ke koeroep na Tsoeikwap dewa hai. 3 Howagoen ayip ka ke diihii, 
ooike ayip oossii goeigaree diitama diihiikeenga. 4 Ayipnap ke oeiiba ha, oeiip ke kooin 
dii naapba. 5 Naapke kayp nara naa, oop ke kaypba nauoeg a bii tama ha. 6 Nabap 
ke kwii kooiba Tsoeikwapga ke tzii hii, tallip ons Iohannip tamira kayhip. 7 Neep ke 
ha, naapgap nii hoeaaka, howan nii ayipga koemka. 8 Apip ke naatamaba, gaweep ke 
tziihii, naap gap nii mii ka. 9 Neep ke amma naaba, howa kooin hoep yra hanna naagnaa. 

10 Ayip ke hoep y hai, siihii hoep ke ayip ka diihii : gawee hoepdi kooin annbiitamakei. 

11 'Ayip ke 'ayipdiin owa ha 'ayip diin ke oegowabiitamakei. 12 Gawee natsii koossii 
'aybara oegowan, 'ayn nap ke kayba maa, Tsoeikwap oaan nii ka, 'ayip ons nara koemin. 
13 Aupbagoe oaytaman noggowa 'kans toerassagoe, noggowa aup toeraabagoe, gawee 
Tsoei'kwap bagoe oay hii han. u Oos ke koemssa 'kann kay, siihii ziitaa nake ann, ore 
ziitaa ke 'ayipdi iitssiip moegna, kwii iitssiip 'koeoepga kwiissii oayi na koaap kayip ore 
ammap ooreeka oowayhii ha 



432 ' AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 



GALLA. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. 

Tshenani io illale orme guduma, garra tullu baie, egi taies duba, tamariwonisa 
garrasa duffan. 2 Afanisas bane isanis bersise io tshedde. 3 Lubbusaniti kan diban, 
kan galatefataraan, motuma Waka kan isani. 4 Kan boijan galatefataman, tshabesaman 
egiran. 5 Gariwon kan galatefataman, laffan edi dalanan. 6 Galatefataman kan belan 
kan debotanis garra zedeki, isi kiifan. 7 Kan marean kan galatefataman, isan mareman. 
8 Lnbbukesaniti kan adadan kan galatefataman, isan Waka enillalan. 9 Galatefataman 
kan arrarsan, otsholle Waka eni tsheddaman. 10 Zedeki mekeniati kan areaman kan gala- 
tefataman, motuma Waka kan isan. n Isini galatefatamani, isini io arrabsan areanis, 
isinis irrati hamma hunda io tsheddan, soba io dubatan mekeniatakijati. 12 Isin gamada 
guclumas gamada, gadikesani gudumada Waka birati, akana arean nabiwon isini durati 
kan tshiran. 



I — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Galla language is diffused, though not exclusively, through regions extending over more than 
sixteen degrees of latitude. It is spoken to the west, south, and east of Abyssinia, and is rapidly 
encroaching on the Amharic and allied languages. It prevails in the valley formed by the courses of 
the rivers Ozy and Jubb, which discharge themselves into the Indian Ocean; and is likewise predomi- 
nant along the coast from the equator to Melinda, formerly a celebrated Portuguese settlement, situated 
nearly on the fourth parallel of south latitude. The people to whom this widely extended language is 
vernacular are still in a state of barbarism, and in number may amount to about 5,000,000. Their 
political condition has been compared by Dr. Krapf to that of the ancient Germans, for they are divided 
into numerous tribes, all of which are jealously tenacious of their liberties and independence, and are 
frequently at war with each other, as well as with neighbouring nations. They are hated and dreaded 
by every people of Eastern Africa, — Pagans, Christians, and Mohammedans, having been alternately 
chastised by them. 

The origin of the Galla is involved in the deepest obscurity: the year 1537 is the date of their 
first appearance in Abyssinia, since which period the history of that ancient empire has been but a 
record of their inroads and devastations. These wild and warlike tribes appear to possess no legends 
or traditions whereby any satisfactory hypothesis concerning their original country can be deduced. 
Dr. Krapf (from whom the most recent accessions to our knowledge concerning this people have been 
obtained) surmises that they originally came from the vicinity of the sources of the White Nile. The 
name of Galla, by which they are known in Abyssinia and the surrounding countries, was supposed by 
Father Balthezar Tellez to have been derived from the Greek, Taka, milk, and to have been applied 
to them on account of the whiteness of their skin, for in complexion they are fairer even than the 
Abyssinians. No native term appears to approximate closely to the form Galla, except the word Gala, 
which, according to Tutschek's Galla Dictionary, signifies " to go home." The Galla, however, apply 
to themselves no other designation than Orma or Ilm 'Orma, literally signifying the " sons of men." 
In bodily and mental endowments they exceed most of the tribes of Eastern Africa; and on account of 
this superiority, members of their nation fetch a high price when sold to the Arabs as slaves. Around 
Abyssinia they lead an agricultural and pastoral life, but to the south of the equator they wander about 
in hordes with their flocks and herds, changing their abode according to the season of the year. Their 



Class VI.] GAL LA. 433 

system of religion has not been ascertained: they believe in a Supreme Being, and likewise in inferior 
deities, and they manifest great fear of evil spirits, whom they endeavour to appease by offerings of 
slaughtered animals. The tribes settled in the neighbourhood of Abyssinia have adopted many notions 
and practices from the corrupted Abyssinian Church; and they know the names of many Abyssinian 
saints, which is not the case with the Galla living near the equator. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Galla language possesses many Shemitic elements, as for instance, in the number and cha- 
racter of its conjugations, which are eight in number, and correspond in a degree with a like order of 
conjugations in Arabic, Ethiopic, and Amharic. Thus for instance: — I. c. ba, to go out; II. c. bad! a, to 
go out for oneself; III. c. baza, to cause to go out; IV. c. bafada, to let go out for oneself; V. c. baziza, 
to cause to let go out; VI. c. bazifada, to cause to let go out for one's own profit; VII. c. basiziza, to 
cause to let drive out; VIII. c. baziztfada, the same, with the middle sense. 

Besides those forms, the Galla language has the property of making verbs of even particles, by 
the addition of ad a and fad a, e.g. from o, ' the answer to a call,' we have oada, to answer, etc. The 
termination fad a is used in denominations, e. g. dyilbefada, to kneel, from dyilba, knee; bowafada, 
to have the head-ache, from bowo, head-ache, etc. 

The Galla has two numbers, singular and plural; two genders, three persons, negative verbs, etc. 
Of cases the accusative is the only one that is formed by the addition of a letter (n) to the nominative. 
The genitive, dative, and ablative, are formed by prepositions. The feminine of adjectives is formed 
by adding tu or ti, e.g. hamtu, gen. of hama, bad; hieti, fern, of hieza, poor; and the plural is formed 
in general like that of nouns in oda. The pronouns bear a strong affinity to the Shemitic family; yet 
the Galla language is manifestly not of Shemitic origin. It is highly euphonic and sonorous : though some o£ 
its sounds can scarcely be pronounced by Europeans. It appears to be linked by numerous affinities to 
the Dankali and Somali languages, spoken by the East Africans within sixteen degrees north from the 
equator, namely, from Massowa in the Ked Sea, down to the northern bank of the River Jubb. The 
Galla language, as might be expected from its wide extension, has various dialects; but the true Galla, 
of every quarter, are able to understand each other without great difficulty. 

III. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The Gospels of St. Matthew, St. Luke, and St. John, the Epistle to the Romans, and the book of 
Genesis, were translated into Galla by Dr. Krapf during his residence in Shoa, between the years 1839 
and 1842. The Gospel of St. Matthew and five chapters of the Gospel of St. John were printed in 
Roman letters, the copies being designed for distribution among the Galla tribes around Shoa, where 
the Church Missionary Society contemplated the establishment of a mission. The opposition of the 
Abyssinian priesthood led, however, to the abandonment, in 1844, of the Shoa mission, and the station 
was accordingly transferred to the Wanika country (southward of the equator and beyond the limits of 
the Galla nation), whence it was hoped that opportunities for a wider dissemination of the holy volume 
than that originally contemplated by the Society might accrue. By aid of the rivers that enter the 
Indian Ocean upon that portion of the coast, it was thought that a road to the interior might be found, 
which would not only bring the missionaries again into communication with the savage Galla tribes, but 
would enable them to commence the realisation of the idea — for a time fondly indulged in — of a chain 
of mission stations across the entire breadth of the African continent. But these hopes — like so many 
others that have been formed in connection with this benighted land — have been doomed to be dis- 
appointed, and all access to the interior of Africa from this direction is, for a time at least, closed. 



29 



434 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI, 



KISUAHELI. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

This language is spoken on the eastern sea-coast of Africa, ten degrees south of the equator, and 
extends some miles inland. It may, in fact, be said to reach from Mozambique even as far as the 
second degree of north latitude. The population of the Suaheli region, including that of the islands 
in which the language is spoken, amounts to about 400,000. The Arabs are the dominant race in this 
part of the African continent, and the government is in the hands of an Arabian prince, a son of the 
late Sultan of Muscat, whose dominions on this portion of the African coast extend from the 
equator southward as far as Cape Delgado. Most of the Suabelis are Mohammedans, but they are 
comparatively free from the bigotry and the domineering spirit by which the followers of the false 
prophet are almost universally characterised. They are, however, kept in spiritual bondage by the 
Arabs who reside among them. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Kisuaheli belongs to the great family of South African -languages, which some philologists 
have designated the Caffre, or Sechuana group, but to which Dr. Krapf has applied the more appropriate 
name of the Nilotic, or Nilo-Hamitic family, because he regards the vicinity of the sources of the 
White River, the main branch of the Nile, as the original location of the progenitors of the tribes to 
whom these languages are vernacular. This designation serves in particular to distinguish this family 
of languages from the Nigrotic, or Nigro-Hamitic group, spoken by those descendants of Ham who 
settled on the banks of the Niger. A broad line of demarcation exists between these two families of 
languages, the Nigro-Hamitic being harsh in sound and irregular in structure, while the Nilo-Hamitic 
are noted for the softness and harmony of their enunciation, and the philosophical uniformity of their 
grammatical arrangement. Again, the Nigro-Hamitic languages are divided into petty sub-classes, 
each of which has little affinity with the others; whereas, the Nilo-Hamitic group exhibit so close a 
resemblance to each other, that they may almost be regarded as mere dialects of one language 
Kisuaheli, in fact, has been said to be only a slightly modified form of the Sechuana language. 
It exhibits, however, certain points of resemblance to Amharic: in some of its characteristics it is very 
closely allied to Galla. It has borrowed many religious terms and other words from Arabic. 

III. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The Kisuaheli language was reduced to writing by Dr. Krapf, of the Church Missionary Society, 
who commenced the mission on the coast of Mombas in 1844. He was not at the time aware that the 
missionaries in South Africa had to deal with the same kind of languages; therefore his efforts were 
prosecuted independently of the aid which he might have derived by availing himself of the results of 
their labours. This learned philologist has translated the book of Genesis and the whole of the New 
Testament, except the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, into Kisuaheli; and an outline of the 
elements of the Kisuaheli language has been published by him through the medium of the Church 
Missionary Society. Since 1857, however, the mission at Mombas has been temporarily suspended, 
owing to the political disturbances consequent upon the death of the late Sultan of Muscat. ' 



Class VI.] KIN IK A. 435 

KIKAMBA. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. MARK, Chap. iv. v. 1 to 9. 

Na uzu yunaambilie nengi ku tawia ndeto mondo wa uzi: no andu engi manakomanie 
kuake, uzu ku lika ngalawani, yunaikalile uzini ; na andu onde mana ikalile mondo wa 
uzi ulu wa ndi. 2 Yuna-a-tawijie azu kindu kingi kua ndeto jia kalakala, yuna-a-tawijie 
azu kua matawiomake. 3 Iwai: jijia. yukuuma muwandi, ku wanda mbeu. 4 Yanatuikie, 
wala yuna wandie, mbeu nini inawalukile mondo wa nsia, na niunie a Malunguni man- 
aizie, manaie. 5 Na mbeu engi inawalukile ulu wa ndi ya mawia, idinai ndaka engi ; 
inameie miduki, undu-idinai na ndi ya kuaza. 6 Ndi jua wala inaumalile, imbeu inaun- 
guie ; na kua undu idinai tuikie na idina, inaumie. 7 Na mbeu engi ina walukile kati 
ya miwa na miwa inameie, inaanangie, idinai ette maumo. 8 Na mbeu engi inawalukile 
ulu wa ndi nzeo, inaumijie maumo ma ku uma na ku mea, inaumijie miongo itatu, na 
mbeu engi inaumijie miongo dandatu na mbeu engi inaumijie iana. 9 Yuna-a-tawijie 
azu, mundu ala ukuete maddu ma ku iwa, aiwe. 

KlKAMBA is the language spoken by the various tribes of the Wakamba, who, collectively, may be 
said to number at least 70,000 or 80,000 souls. They dwell in East Africa, at a distance of about 
400 miles from the coast of Mombas, which they occasionally visit for purposes of traffic. They are 
not only traders, but likewise cultivators of the soil; and although they have fixed habitations, they 
often travel to a great distance from their native country, for the purpose of hunting elephants and 
bartering ivory. Dr. Krapf is of opinion that, through the instrumentality of this nation, the very 
centre of Africa, and the region where the Bahr-el-Abiad rises may ultimately be reached. 

The Wakamba have no chiefs like the other tribes in their vicinity, their government being 
wholly of a patriarchal kind. Their ideas on spiritual subjects are very grovelling and limited, 
extending merely to belief in witchcraft, and fear of evil spirits. Their language is a dialect of the 
Nilotic stock, and resembles that of the Wanika. It has been reduced to writing by Dr. Krapf, and a 
translation of the Gospel of St. Mark was some years since prepared by the same indefatigable mis- 
sionary : this, however, docs not appear to have yet been printed. 



KIN IK A. 

The Kinika is strongly allied to the Kisuaheli. The tribes of the Wanika, to whom the Kinika lan- 
guage is vernacular, dwell in Eastern Africa, as far south as the fourth degree of south latitude, about 
fifteen or twenty miles to the west of the island of Mombas. A great number of the Wakamba live in 
the western part of their country, having been driven towards the sea-shore by a famine some thirty 
years ago. In the district occupied conjointly by these two people, the Wanika have left the plains to 
the Wakamba, retaining the heights and forests for themselves. The Wanika number about 60,000 
individuals. They are an agricultural people, and carry on a trade with the Suahelis of the coast. 



436 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. 

They are divided into numerous tribes, each of which is governed by several chiefs. One of the chiefs 
is always invested with authority over the rest, but his power is limited, and he can effect little without 
the concurrence of the majority of his tribe. Like most of the other branches of the Nilotic stock, the 
Wanika have no idols. They have some faint idea of a Supreme Being; but they invocate and offer 
animal sacrifices to the Koma, or shade of their dead. They are represented by Dr. Krapf as "a lying, 
talking, drinking, superstitious, and totally earthly-minded people, having the belly for their god;" 
but, on the other hand, he says that they are " men of peace, attentive to their sick, and honest." 

The foundation of the grammatical and lexicographical structure of the Kinika language^ which 
is a mere corruption of the Suaheli, has been laid by Dr. Krapf, who has likewise prepared a Kinika 
version of the Gospels of St. John and St. Luke, and of the Epistles to the Romans and Ephesians. 
The Gospel of St. Luke was printed in 1848 at Bombay, in the American mission-press, for the benefit 
of the schools in which Wanika boys are instructed in the Christian religion. Although this Gospel, 
with the Heidelberg catechism and a spelling-book, constitutes all that has hitherto been printed in 
Kinika, there is already reason to hope that this small portion of the Divine Word has not been 
imparted to the benighted Wanika tribes in vain. " It is the missionaries' firm opinion (says 
Dr. Krapf) that the Lord is stretching his hands of mercy over these Nilotic tribes which have already 
been so richly blessed at the Cape; and that a mission-chain can be formed from this quarter for 
connecting the east and west of Africa, which will be the means of fulfilling the prophecy in the 18th 
chapter of Isaiah." The determined and active hostility of the benighted tribes of the interior has, 
however, compelled the abandonment of this hope for a time. Meanwhile, the objects of the mission 
have been advancing — though by slow and almost imperceptible degrees — among the Wanika 
themselves. 



A contribution to African etymology of the highest value has within the last few years been made 
by the Rev. S. W. Koelle, one of the missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, in the collection of 
specimens of languages from the natives of different countries in Africa who have been brought into the 
colony of Sierra Leone. These specimens consist of two hundred and fifty words and short sentences, 
translated into the native languages of two hundred different localities. The results of the investigation 
are of an astonishing kind, and unfold such a view of the multitudinous inhabitants of that vast conti- 
nent, and of the variety of their languages, and such glimpses of their national peculiarities, as to fill the 
mind of the Christian philanthropist with new thoughts of the work that lies before the Church of 
Christ in the evangelisation of Africa, of the vastness of the undertaking, and yet of the steps to be 
taken for its accomplishment. 

Mr. Koelle's work, under the title of " Polyglotta Africana," was published in London, in 1854. 
We cannot better conclude this division of our subject than by quoting (from the Report of the Church 
Missionary Society for 1853) the following highly interesting sketch of the views which it developes. 
" These discoveries (of Mr. Koelle) show that Sierra Leone is the asylum of the representatives of not 
fewer than 200 different nations, speaking 151 distinct languages, besides numerous dialects of the 
same. These nations lie scattered over the surface of Central, Western, and Southern Africa. The 
languages have been arranged under twenty-six groups; but there still remain fifty-four unclassified, 
more separate and distinct from each other than are the languages of Europe. 

" The nations represented at Sierra Leone lie along 4000 miles of coast, beginning from beyond the 
Senegal, in the north, to the Portuguese settlements south of the line. They extend in the interior 
throughout the whole course of the Niger, from its sources in the mountains beyond Sierra Leone, to 
its estuaries, comprising Timbuctu — the emporium of African commerce — and the vast provinces 
subdued by the fanatical Mohammedan Fulas, and numerous small tribes who appear to have floated 



Class VI.] KIN IK A. 437 

down the large volume of waters to settle upon the delta. At Sierra Leone are also found those who 
have wandered over the trackless Sahara from the very borders of Egypt, and those who have inhabited 
the islands of Lake Tchad in the centre of Africa, or borne office in the powerful kingdom of Bornu, 
or fought in bloody battles with the warriors of Darfur. Even the deep recesses of Southern Africa 
have furnished their tribute to the motley population of the British colony. There are those now casting 
their nets into the Atlantic, who in their youth sported on the shores of the Indian Ocean, and looked 
across the Mozambique. From that part of the southern continent, which has hitherto been a perfect 
blank in the maps, there are those in Sierra Leone who can tell of their native towns, which require a 
day or more to be traversed from end to end; of broad and deep rivers; of nations of tall and strongly 
built warriors ; of savage cannibals ; and of peaceful and generous nomadic hunters. And they are all 
ready to tell of the wants of Africa's hidden millions of immortal souls. Their breasts heave with 
emotion when a friendly inquiry is made respecting their fatherland; they eagerly supply the informa- 
tion, and appeal, often in fervid language, and with moving eloquence, to those who possess the best 
gift of God to a fallen world. And shall they plead in vain, in the very spot where they have been 
brought together, the asylum for liberated Africans, freed from the grasp of the oppressor, and settled 
in a quiet home by the powerful arm of Great Britain — shall they plead in vain for that second boon 
which shall make them and their country ' free indeed?' " 



CLASS YIL- AMEBIC AN LANGUAGES. 



ESQUIMAUX. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Pigiarnerme okausek Tpok, okauserlo Gudemepok, Gudelo okausiojok. 2 Tamna 
pigiarnerme Gudemepok. 3 Tamaitarsuit tapspmunga pingortitauvut, tapsoma assiagullo 
pingortisimmangilet, pingortisimraajut. 4 Innosek tapsoma illuanetok; innoserlo innuit 
kaumaneriveet. 5 Kaumajorlo kaumaivok taktomut, taktomiullo tukkisingilaet. 6 In- 
nungmik tillijaurnajokarpok Gudemut, Johannesemik attelingmik. 7 Tamna tikkilaukpok 
kigligiudsijovlune, kigligiudsikovlugo kaumajomik, illunaita tapsomuuga okpertitauler- 
kovlugit. 8 Nangminek tamna kaumajoungilak, kigligiudsikovlugole kaumajomik. 
9 Tamedsa miksekartok kaumajok, innungnik illunainik kaumarsaijok, nunamut tikki- 
tunnik. 10 Sillaksoarmelauktok, sillaksoarlo tapsomunga pingortitauvok ; sillaksoar- 
miullo illitaringilset. n Innutitaminut tikkipok, innutitangitalo illelliungilset. 12 Tap- 
somingale illelliortut illunaita, tapkoa pitsartunermik tunnitsivigiveit, kittorngaulerk- 
ovlugit Gudemut, okpertut tapsoma attinganut. 13 Tapkoa aungmit pingitut, uviniub 
pijomajanganillonet, angutib pijomajanganillonet, Gudemille erniangomajut. u Okau- 
serlo uviniolerpok, innukattigaellutalo, ananauningalo ta3kkolaukpavut, ernetuanget 
ananauningatut, Atatamit pijub, saimarnelijartok miksekarnelijartorlo. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Esquimaux are dispersed over the northern coast of North America, inhabiting the shores of all 
the seas, bays, gulfs, and islands of the Arctic Ocean, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They are also 
found on the Atlantic side of the continent, along the coast of Labrador, as far south as the fiftieth degree 
of latitude; and they are likewise to be met with on the opposite coast of America, along the shores 
of the Pacific, from Behring Strait to Mount St. Elias, in the sixtieth degree of latitude. Their 
territory is exclusively maritime, for they are seldom found above a hundred miles from the sea-shore : 
the whole extent of country which this people inhabit does not, however, measure less than 5400 miles 
from one extremity to the other, reckoning along the coast. 

Few countries are more thinly populated than the sterile domains of the Esquimaux. In Labrador, 
for instance, a large peninsula, equal in extent to Spain, France, and Germany, the resident population, 
including the Moravians and the natives, does not exceed 4000. Several dialects, of which Green- 
landish is one variety, prevail among the different tribes of this widely-diffused race: but in smallness 
of stature and other physical peculiarities, and in their dirty, disgusting habits, the various Esquimaux 
nations strongly resemble each other; and, with the exception of those who have been reclaimed by 
missionary efforts, they are universally characterised by abject ignorance and its concomitant vices. 
The sedentary Tchuktchi, a tribe inhabiting the north-eastward extremity of Asia, adjacent to the 



Class VII.] ESQUIMAUX. 43'9 

shores of Behring Strait, speak a dialect akin to Esquimaux, and are supposed to be the descendants 
of a colony planted by the West American Esquimaux. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Although the Esquimaux have been regarded by some writers as a distinct race, yet the peculiar 
structure of their language is an evidence of their relationship to the other aboriginal tribes of America. 
All the languages of that vast continent, from the most polished to the least cultivated idioms, are 
distinguished by certain peculiarities of internal mechanism, which, independently' of historical or 
other collateral testimony, distinctly indicate the fact of their having originated from one common 
source. 

The distinctive characteristic of this class of languages is their tendency to compress the words 
which are syntactically or logically connected together in a sentence into one single word. This 
peculiarity, which was first pointed out by Egede, in his account of Greenland, is familiarly called 
" agglutination," and is of such frequent occurrence in most of the American languages, that 
Du Ponceau has given the name of " Polysynthetic" to the whole group. The process of forming 
these compound words is not, however, conducted on precisely the same principles in all the languages 
of this class. In the Algonquin and Esquimaux dialects, the five or six words thus compressed into 
one are all so abbreviated, that only one syllable (possibly the radical) of each is preserved. Extreme 
precision is another characteristic of American languages, every modification and qualification of an 
idea being expressed with such elaborate minuteness as to appear puerile and wearisome to Europeans. 
Thus, the Esquimaux have special and distinct terms for animals of the same species, according to their 
age, sex, and form. The nouns in general have no inflexions properly so called; plurality is denoted 
by a suffixed particle, and the oblique case of the personal pronoun is often inserted between the verb 
and the noun, producing a form of circumlocution like the following: "I saw him Peter." In the 
conjugation of verbs, on the contrary, inflections expressive 'of the various modes and modifications of 
actions are even more numerous than in the Shemitic languages. 

The uniformity which pervades the grammatical principles on which all American languages are 
constructed is not observable in their respective vocabularies; for the corresponding words in different 
dialects frequently differ so widely from each other, as to warrant the supposition of their having been 
deduced from distinct roots. A comparison has been instituted, by Professors Barton and Vater, 
between the words of about thirty American languages and the corresponding terms of other tongues; 
and in some instances affinities have thus been traced with various languages of north-eastern Asia. 
The affinity is, however, by no means sufficiently strong to indicate community of origin with any 
known language; and from all that has been hitherto ascertained concerning the American Indians, 
their languages, traditions, polity, manners, and customs, it is evident that this branch of the human 
family separated from the parent stock at a very remote epoch of history, and from some unknown 
cause, subsequently retrograded from a state of civilisation to their present degraded and unsettled 
condition. 

ill. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The glad tidings of the Gospel were first proclaimed in these inclement regions by the Moravian 
missionaries, who were induced to visit Labrador from the supposition that the natives spoke the 
same language as the Esquimaux of Greenland, among whom a Moravian mission had been established. 
It was, however, soon discovered that the dialect of Labrador differed in so many respects from that of 
Greenland, that the same version of the Scriptures would not be available for both countries. The 
missionaries therefore addressed themselves in the first instance to the pi-eparation of a harmony of the 
Gospels for the Esquimaux of Labrador: many years were spent in revising and correcting this work, 
and at length, in 1809, it was sent for publication to London. Mr. Kohlmeister, who had been many 
years a missionary in Labrador, extracted from this MS. an entire version of the Gospel of St. John; 



440 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

and in 1810 an edition of 1000 copies of that Gospel was published in London, at the expense of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society. The copies were transmitted to Labrador, and were received with 
great thankfulness. " Our people (said the missionaries) take this little book with them to the islands 
when they go out in search of provisions; and, in their tents or snow houses, they spend their evenings 
in reading it with great edification and blessing." 

This reception of the Gospel of St. John induced the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society to comply with the entreaties of the Labrador missionaries, to publish an edition of the other 
three Gospels. A version had been prepared by the venerable superintendent of the Labrador Mission, 
the Bev. C. F. Burghardt, who was permitted to complete his revision of the text shortly before 
his sudden dissolution. An edition of 1000 copies, to correspond with the Gospel of St. John, was 
therefore issued by the Society in 1813. A version of the Acts and Epistles, prepared by the conjoint 
labour of the Moravian missionaries, was published by the Society in 1819; and in 1826 a complete 
edition of the Esquimaux New Testament left the Society's press in London. In 1826 a version of 
the Psalms was also printed, and in 1839 a revised edition of the Acts, Epistles, and book of Revelation 
was completed. Other editions have been given bj the Society at successive periods, and with the 
exception of some of the historical books, the Esquimaux version of the Old Testament has been com- 
pleted. The Pentateuch was published in London in 1847, followed in 1849 by an edition of the 
Proverbs and the prophetical books. The number of copies of the sacred volume, in whole or in 
part, hitherto bestowed by the Society on the Esquimaux of Labrador, is as follows: — 

New Testament .... 4000 

' Pentateuch and Psalms . . . 2016 

Proverbs and Prophets . . . 1000 

Isaiah 1006 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

The blessing of God on this version of his Word has been abundantly manifested from the earliest 
period of its circulation. A missionary, who had laboured thirty-four years in Labrador, gave, in 
1825, the following account of the effects of its perusal: — " The most efficacious means of promoting 
growth in grace among our Esquimaux is the reading of the New Testament. They peruse it daily 
in their houses and tents with the greatest earnestness, delight, and edification. Their understanding 
of the Word of God has greatly increased, and the influence upon their moral conduct is manifest; for 
they now, more than ever, desire to regulate their walk and conversation in conformity to truly Chris- 
tian principles. Surely (after stating other interesting facts, he adds) this is an astonishing display of 
the goodness and mercy of God, in sending out his light and truth to a benighted people, who but half 
a century ago were immersed in the grossest superstition, and addicted to the most eruel vices. Those 
things which were formerly practised among the Esquimaux by their sorcerers and angekoks are at 
present hardly ever heard of, the heathen themselves being ashamed of them. In the Christian settle- 
ments the very names of angekok, tomgak, etc., are almost unknown to the rising generation." 

In the schools established at the four missionary stations in Labrador for the instruction of the 
young, the study of the Scriptures has been attended with spiritual fruit more or less abundant; and in 
some of the more recent reports the missionaries state that, at the yearly examination of the schools, it 
is truly gi-atifying to observe the readiness with which " the pupils bring forth out of the treasury of 
the Word of God the many precious truths they have learned from its pages." At Easter (says a later 
writer) many of the Esquimaux visited Hopedale, and all appeared much gratified with the celebration 
of the sacred season. "In conversing with them we were pleased to find that they were not altogether 
without knowledge of religious truth, and that they know what they must do to inherit eternal life. 
The Bible is their only instructor." 



Class VII.] GREENLAND I SH. 441 



GEEENLANDISH. 

SPECIMEN FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 11. 

[Version of 1799.] 

(Tamardliuinarsoarmik) isuaenne Okauzeng-etok, Okauzerlo Gudiursok. ( 2 Ta- 
mardluinarsoarinik) isuaenne tauna Gudimetok. 3 Tamarmik taursomanga pingortisi- 
maput; tamardlu'inarsoarmiglo pingortisimarsut adlarnik pingortitsirsokangilast, tauna 
kissiet (pingortitsirsigallugo). 4 Innursut taursomanetok, innursudlo tainanna innu'it 
nenneroutigaet. 5 NennerSudlo tartome kaumaleralloartok, tartublo illasiaringika. 
6 Innuk Gudim audlartika Johannesimik attilik. 7 Tauna naellunEeriartortok, nennerout 
okautigikudlugo, tamasa operkudlugit taursomunga. 8 Taivna nangminek nenner- 
outaungitsok, nennerouinigle naellunEeriartorsinnartok. 9 Tersa nenneroutaursok oper- 
nartok, innungnik tamannik nunamut pirsunnik kaumarsairsok. 10 Sillarsoarmetok, 
sillarsoarlo taursomanga pingortisimavok, sillarsoarmiudle ilirsaringikset. u Innuvta- 
minut pigalloartok, innuvtejsale illasiaringikeet. 12 Taursomingale illeksirsut kittor- 
nangortikej Gudiraut, nungudlugit atterminun opertut. 13 Tauko aungmit pingitsut, 
u'ingublo pekkorsanit pingitsut, angutib pekkorsanidloneet pingitsut, Gudimidle 
erniosiuiarsut. 14 Okauzerlo ivna u'inino-ortok akkunevtinelerdlunilo, taursomulo 
ussornarsiisia, sordlo Atatam ernetusen ussornarsiisia, tekkogalloarikput, sajmarsorsoud- 
lunilo seglusu'itsorsoursok. 

I. — GEOGEAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Greenland is the general name given to an immense tract of land lying adjacent to the north-eastern 
coasts of the American continent, and which recent discoveries have shown to extend from the latitude 
of 60° northward to beyond the 80th parallel — a length of more than 1300 miles. In its southern 
portion, the breadth is limited, but further northward its dimensions in this direction are between six 
and seven hundred miles. Perhaps, however, the whole of this vast region is not continuous land, but 
may embrace several tracts, divided by arms of the sea. The interior is still wholly unknown, and the 
explorations of such portions of its coasts as have been visited is in great measure due to the numerous 
efforts made in the search after a north-west passage from the Atlantic into the Pacific Ocean. 

The western coasts of Greenland, which are the seat of missionary labour, are those best known to 
us. Like other portions of the Arctic archipelago, they exhibit a naked, dreary, and forbidding aspect. 
Steep rocks rise immediately above the surface of the water, and are backed towards the interior by a 
high and ice-covered mountain-range — the fruitful source of vast glaciers which descend thence to the 
sea and form the huge ice-bergs, or floating ice-islands, of Baffin Bay. Numerous deep and narrow 
islets, resembling the fiords of Norway, or the lochs of the western shores of Scotland, indent the 
general coast-line and penetrate far into the interior; and the shores of these islets contain the only 
cultivable spots of ground. The sovereignty of this portion of Greenland belongs to the Danish crown, 
which possesses several small settlements there. The most northern of the Danish factories is Tosiursak, 
in lat. 73° 18'. The amount of population included within the Danish possessions is stated to be about 
8000, among whom are perhaps 150 Europeans. Some trade is carried on with Denmark at each of 
the different stations, from which are exported small quantities of whale oil, together with skins of the 



442 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

bear, rein-deer, seal, and other animals. The eastern coasts of Greenland are ice-bound and desolate in 
aspect, and are rarely visited. 

The native tribes of Esquimaux are stated to frequent the shores of Baffin Bay to as high a 
latitude as 76° or 77°. Their range appears to have formerly reached much further, both to the north- 
ward and westward, than it does at present. Becent visitors have found abundant remains of Esquimaux 
habitations in the newly discovered lands adjacent to the shores of Wellington Channel, in localities 
which are now never visited by their tribes. 

The native language of Greenland, as before mentioned, is a dialect of Esquimaux; it abounds in 
harsh sounds, and the consonants r, k, and t, predominate. It appears to be spoken with some pro- 
vincial varieties by the different tribes of Greenlanders ; for Boss relates that the natives of North 
Greenland were unable to converse intelligibly with the natives of the southern districts of the 
island. 

II. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

As early as the beginning of the eleventh century, the Norwegians established a colony on the 
coast of Greenland ; and we have a list of their bishops during the three following centuries. Nothing, 
however, has been heard of them since the fifteenth century; and this circumstance, combined with 
the loss of all intelligence concerning another Norwegian colony, said to have been established at a 
still earlier period on the opposite coast of Greenland, forcibly awakened the sympathy of Hans' Egede, 
a clergyman of Norway, in behalf of the descendants of these early colonists. Egede addressed a 
memorial on the subject to the bishop of his diocese, in 1710; in 1718 he relinquished his benefice, 
with the view of taking still more active measures in the cause; and in 1721 he effected a voyage to 
Greenland. It appears he was unsuccessful in discovering traces of his countrymen; but his attention 
was arrested by the abject and deplorable condition of the natives. He applied to the study of their 
language, reduced it to writing, and translated the Psalms and the Epistles of St. Paul. The version 
of the New Testament was completed by his son, Mr. Paul Egede, author of a Greenlandish dictionary. 
Some portion of this version was published at Copenhagen in 1744, followed in 1758 by an edition of 
the Gospels and Acts, and in 1766 by the entire New Testament. 

This translation, the first that had been made into this rude, uncultivated language, was found to 
be but little intelligible to the ignorant people for whom it was designed. Another attempt to translate 
the Scriptures for their benefit was therefore undertaken after the death of Egede, by Fabricius, who 
had formerly laboured like an apostle among them. His version of the New Testament was printed at 
Copenhagen in 1799, but it did not prove to be in any respect superior to Egede's" version. A third 
translation was therefore undertaken by the Moravian missionaries: they commenced a Greenlandish 
harmony of the Gospels shortly after their arrival in the country, in 1733, but their translation of the 
New Testament was not completed till the year 1821. They were eminently qualified for the execution 
of this important work, some of them having persevered in their arduous labours among the natives of 
this inclement region for the long space of thirty, forty, and fifty years. Their version of the New 
Testament is a literal translation of Luther's German version: the first edition, consisting of 1000 copies, 
was printed in London, in 1822, by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and some subsequent 
editions have been bestowed on Greenland by the Danish Bible Society. 

A version of the Old Testament has been during several years in progress, under the auspices of 
the latter Society. The work was commenced by Fabricius, but was interrupted by his lamented decease. 
The Rev. Mr. Wolf, chaplain to the citadel of Copenhagen, and formerly missionary in Greenland, was 
appointed to continue the translation: he was esteemed, next to Fabricius, the first Greenlandish scholar. 
On his demise, the work was transferred by the Danish Society to Pastor Kragh, who had married a 
Greenlander, and had resided for ten years as a missionary in Greenland, where he was respected as a 
second Egede or Fabricius. It may be hoped that this version, if not already completed, will soon be 
ready for the press; and the British and Foreign Bible Society have agreed to furnish aid towards its 



Class VII.] G REENL AND IS H. 443 

[Veesion of 1822.] 

Tamarluinnarsoarmik issogeime okausek-etok, okauserlo Gudimetok, okauserlo 
tamanna Gudiursok. 2 Tamarluinnarsoarmik issoaenne ivna Gudimetok. 3 Tamar- 
luinnarsoarmik taursomanga pingortitaput, pingortisimarsullo tamarmik adlamik 
pingortitsirsokangilet, tauna kissiet pingortitsirsigaet. 4 Innursut taursoma illuanetok, 
innursiillo tamanna innuit kaumarsoraet. 5 Kaumarsorlo tartome kaumagalloartok, 
tartuble illaessiaringika. 6 Innuk Gudib aulartika, lohannesemik attelik. 7 Taivna 
okaursiartortok, kaumarsomik okalluktuksaugame, tamasa opertiniarlugit. 8 Taivna 
nangminek kaumarsongitsok, kaumarsomigle okalluktuksainaursok. 9 Terssa illomut 
opernartok kaumarsok, innungnik tamannik kaumarsairsok, nuname innungortuksennik. 
10 Tamanna sillarsoarmetok, sillarsoarlo pingortisimavok taursomanga, sillarsublo 
innueesa illissaringikaet. n Innuktaminut pigalloartok, innukteisale illaessiaringikaet. 
12 Taursomingale illaessirsut, atterminullo opertut kittornarsiaritikei Gudemut ; ]3 Terssa 
aungmit pingitsut, uingub pekkorsanilloneet pingitsut, angutib pekkorsanilloneet 
pingitsut, Gudemille erniusimarsut. u Okauserlo ivna uinningortok, akkornautineler- 
sorlo, uagullo tekkogikput ussornarsusia, sordlo Atatab Ernetuaetta ussornarsusia, 
saimarsorsovlunelo seglosuitsorsoursok. 

publication. A version of the Psalms, prepared by the Kev. Valentine Miiller, one of the Moravian 
missionaries, from Luther's German version, and carefully compared with the original, was published 
by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1842: the edition consisted of 1200 copies. In 1850, 
authority was given by the same Society to the United Brethren to print a revised edition of the New 
Testament, at Herrnhut, under the personal superintendence of several retired missionaries from Green- 
land, who now reside in that settlement and its neighbourhood. The work was completed in the follow- 
ing year, and the edition, consisting of 1000 copies, was at once placed at the disposal of the missionaries, 
for distribution among their stations on the coast of West Greenland. 

III. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

No visible effects attended the labours of the first missionaries in Greenland. Mr. Paul E^ede, 
after fifteen years of extreme suffering and privation, sorrowfully admitted that his efforts for the 
conversion of the natives had been to all appearance without avail; and, on his departure from their 
inhospitable shore, he preached to them, for the last time, from the affecting words, " I said, I have 
laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain; yet surely my judgment is with 
the Lord, and my work with my God." And the experience of the Moravian missionaries, during 
the first five years of their sojourn in Greenland, was similar to that of Egede: during that period they 
had chiefly confined their ministrations among the natives to instruction on moral duties, and on the 
abstract tenets of Christianity, — thus virtually withholding from them direct and immediate access to 
the pure, unadulterated Word of God. But a change was wrought in their teaching, and in its results. 
This happened when John Beck, one of the Moravian missionaries, was engaged in transcribing the 
version of the Four Gospels. The curiosity of the savages was excited to know what he was writing. 
He read to them the history of the Saviour's conflict on the Mount of Olives. Then the Spirit of God 
began to work : some of them laid their hands upon their mouths, as is customary among them when 
they are struck with wonder, and a man named Kajarnak exclaimed in a loud and anxious tone, " How 
was that? Tell us that once more, for I too would fain be saved !" Such words had never been heard 
from a Greenlander before. From that time Kajarnak visited the brethren frequently, and gave abun- 
dant evidence, by the subsequent tenor of his life and conversation, that he was truly converted to God 



444 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

The simple exhibition of the Word of God was blessed in a similar manner to other natives ; and the 
missionaries had no longer to deplore that their labour was in vain. 

The most happy results have attended the recent distribution of the Scriptures; and at the present 
moment almost all the Greenlanders within reach of the four Moravian stations make at least an out- 
ward profession of Christianity. Nor is this change unaccompanied by improvement in the moral and 
social condition of this previously benighted race, as is shewn by the independent observations of recent 
visitors. Striking testimony is borne by Dr. Sutherland (Journal of a Voyage in Baffin's Bay in 
1850, 51, etc.) to the improved condition of the native Greenlanders within the neighbourhood of the 
Danish settlements, and within the reach of missionary influences. 



NEW ENGLAN D-I N D I A N. 

VIRGINIAN, MASSACHUSETT, AND MOHECAN. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

[VlEGINIAN VEESION.] 

Weske kutchissik wuttinnoowaonk ohtup, kah kuttoowonk ooweetodtamun Man it, & 
ne kuttooonk Manittoooomoo. 2 Yeu nan weske kutchissik weechayeutamun God. 3 Wame 
teanteaquassinish kesteausupash nashpe nagum, & matta teag kesteausineup webe nashpe 
nagum ne kesteausikup. 4 Ut wuhhogkat pomantamoonk ohtop, kah ne pomantamoonk 
oowequaiyeumuneaop wosketompaog. 5 Kah wequai sohsumoomco pohkenahtu, & pohkenai 
matta wutattumunnmooun. 6 Wosketomp anoonop wutch Godut, ussowesu John. 7 Noh 
nan wutch peyau wauwaeniiuneat, oowauwdnat wequai, onk woh wame wosketompaog 
wunnamptamwog nashpe nagum. 8 Matta nagum ne wequai, qut oowauwo nat wequai. 
9 Ne mo wunnamuhkut wequai, ne wohsumungqut nish noh wosketomp noh paont 
muttaohkit. 10 Noh appup muttaohket, kah muttaok kesteausip nashpe nagum, & 
muttaok matta oowaheuh. u Peyau nehenwonche wuttaiheit, & nehenwonche wuttaiheuh 
matta wutattumunukoooh. n Qut neadtahshe attumunukquit wuttinnumauoh menuh- 
kesuonk oonaumoniifieat God neh wanamptamunitche oowesuonk. 13 Neg nekitcheg, 
matta nashpe wusqueheonk, asuh matta nashpe weyausue unnantamooonk, asuh matta 
nashpe wosketompae wuttenantamooonk, qut nashpe God. 14 Kah kuttooonk ayimoooop 
wey aus, kah kooweetomukqun (kah naumumun wussohsumoonk, sohsumoonk onatuh 
wunnukquttegheon watooshimau) numwabehtunk kitteamonteanitteaonk & wunnamuhku- 
teyeuonk. 

In the beginning of the seventeenth century, all the regions of North America comprised between 
the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of latitude were known in Europe under the general name of 
North and South Virginia; and it was not till the year 1620 that the designation of " New England" 
was applied to the territory now occupied by the north-eastern states of the North American Union. 
Within that territory three closely-allied dialects of the Algonquin stock were formerly predominant, 
namely, the Massachusett, the Mohegan, and the Narragansett. As these dialects were commonly 
included under the collective appellation of the Virginian or New England language, it is extremely 



Ciass VII.] NEW ENGLAND-INDIAN. 445 

difficult at this distance of time to determine the relative extent of each; more particularly as the tribes 
to whom they were respectively vernacular have long since given place to the British settlers. It 
seems natural to suppose that the Massachusett dialect was predominant in Massachusett ; and the 
Mohegan dialect appears to have prevailed immediately to the east of the Hudson River. The New 
England Indians were greatly reduced in numbers during the years 1612 and 1613, seven or eight 
years before the settlement at Plymouth, by a mortal epidemic which raged among them, and swept 
off whole families. " Thus (observes an old writer) did Providence make way for the quiet settlement 
of the pilgrim fathers." Gookin gives the following statistical account of the native tribes of New 
England, which shows the ravages occasioned by the epidemic: — 





Number of Warriors 


Number of Warriors 




in former times. 


in A. D. 1674. 


Pequots, or Mohicans 


4000 


300 


Narragansetts 


. 5000 


1000 


Pawkunnawkuts 


3000 


nearly extinct 


Massachusetts 


. 3000 


300 


Pawtuckets 


3000 


250 



The Gospel was first proclaimed to these tribes by John Eliot, an Englishman by birth, who in the 
year 1631 had settled as an independent minister at Roxbury, in New England. He entered upon his 
important labours in 1646, in the forty-second year of his age, under the sanction of the general court 
of the Massachusetts colony, by whom an act had been passed for the encouragement of attempts to 
win the natives to Christ. No grammatical or other philological helps then existed for the attainment 
of any American language ; but Eliot, availing himself of the assistance of a few natives, mastered their 
language, reduced it to writing, and executed a translation of the entire Scriptures. The secret of his 
success is made known in a few lines which he inscribed at the close of his grammar of the New 

SPECIMEN, EROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

[Massachusett Veesion.] 

Waske kutchissik kuttooonk ohtop, kah kuttooonk oowechiyeumukqunnap Mannit, 
kali kuttooonk Mannittoomooup. 2 Ne nan oowechiyeumukqunnap Mannit. 3 Wame 
teaquasinish keschteosupash nashpe nagum ; kah matta teag keschteosunnoop wepe 
nashpe nagum, ne kesehteosukup. 4 Pomontamooonk apehtunkup, kah ne pomanta- 
moonk oowequaiyeuminneaop wosketompaog. ° Kah ne wequai sohsumoomoo ut poh- 
kunnahtu, kah pohkunnai matta wuttattununumoounnap. 6 Wosketomp anoonop wutch 
Godut, ussoowesup John. 7 Noh nan watche peyop wauwaeninnuinneat, wauwaontomun- 
nat wequai, onk woh wame wosketompaog wunnomuhtamwog nashpe nagum. 8 Noh 
matta ne wequai, qut anoonop oowauwaontamunnat ne wequai. 9 Uttuh wunnummuhkut- 
teyeue wequaiyeuooup, ne wohsummonkqut nishnoh wosketomp noh payont muttaohket. 
10 Noh appud muttaohket kah Muttaohk keschteosiip nashpe nagum, kah muttaohk matta 
wahukoop. n Peyop nehenwonche wuttaiheut, kah wuttaiheoh matta attumunukoop. 
12 Glut ne attashe attumunukquehp wuttununumauopah munnehkesuonk wunnamoniinneat 
en Godut, nux en wanomuhtogig ut oowesuonkanit. 13 Nag nateuhpaneg matta nashpe 
wishquchhunk, asuh meyauussue unantamooonk, asuh wosketompae unnantamooonk, qut 
nashpe God. 14 Kah kuttooonk meyausuhkonap, kah koowechiyeumukqunnanonup (kah 
nunnamumunonup wussohsumooonk, sohsumooonk onatuh wunnukquttekehheonoh wuttco- 
shumau) nashpe numwohtae monanteaonk kah wunnomwaonk. 



446 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

England language, published in 1666: they are to the following effect: — " Prayers and pains, through 
faith in Christ Jesus, will do anything." The first edition of his version of the New Testament was 
printed at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1661, and was dedicated to King Charles II. It is stated in 
the title-page, that " it was ordered to be printed by the Commissioners of the United Colonies in 
New England, at the charge and with the consent of the Corporation in England for the Propagation 
of the Gospel among the Indians in New England." The edition consisted of 2000 copies, and was 
sooner exhausted than was expected. The New England or Virginian Old Testament was published 
at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1663, and is remarkable as being the first edition of the Bible in any 
language ever printed in America. 

A second edition of the entire Scriptures was published at the same place in 1685: Eliot was 
assisted in the correction of this edition by Mr. John Cotton, pastor of the English church at Plymouth, 
New England, son of Mr. John Cotton, the celebrated puritan preacher. It has been mentioned 
as a curious circumstance in connection with this version, that it was written, from beginning to end, 
with the same pen. The expenses of the publication were partly defrayed by the Society above 
mentioned, and partly by a contribution of £300 from the Hon. Robert Boyle. The effects of the 
dissemination of the Word of God in this language are evident from the fact that, before Eliot closed 
his long and honourable career, there were 1100 souls within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts yielding 
obedience to the Gospel of Christ; there were six churches of baptised Indians in New England, 
eighteen assemblies of catechumens professing Christianity, and twenty-four native converts set apart 
to preach to their countrymen the glad tidings of salvation. 

In 1709 the Gospel of St. John and the Psalms were translated by the exemplary missionary, 
Mr. Experience Mayhew, into the Massachusett dialect of New England, and an edition was printed 
at Boston, New England. 

A version for the special benefit of the Pequots, or Mohican tribes of New England, was likewise 
undertaken by the Rev. John Sergeant, sen., a missionary at Stockbridge, towards the close of the 
eighteenth century. He translated the New and part of the Old Testament, but no portion of his 
version has ever been printed. 

These New England-Indian versions are no longer of any practical utility, and are valuable only 
as literary curiosities. The idioms in which they are written are now obsolete, and the tribes for whom 
they were designed are wholly or partly extinct. 



Class VII.] DELAWARE. 447 

DELAWARE. 

SPECIMEN, FROM 1 St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 10. 

Nan ninutachpitup, nan nbendawawuna elnet, nan neschgingunanink untschi newa- 
wuna, woak nbenauwawuna, woak n'mischenawuna untschi nachgennanink, elewensit 
pomauchsowoagan wedaptonaganid. 2 (Eli neichgussit elewunsit pemauchsowoaganid, 
woak neichquitaguna, woak ntelli penundhikeneen ; woak niluna kwundamoleneen pom- 
mauchsowoagan eli hattek hallemii, nan ninutschi epitup talli Wetochwingink, schuk 
juque kmitachkaniechtaguneen.) 3 Wemi endchi nemenk woak pendamenk elekil, juque 
kwundamolenneen, wentschitsch wetauchsomijenk, woak wentschitsch wemi kiluna 
wulamo eii witauclisomank. Wetochwink, nachelii Quisall N'Jesus Christ. 4 Woak nel 
elekil- guntschi petekhammolenewo, wentschitsch pachkantschiechtasik gulelendamoa- 
ganowa, talli kakeuwawink. °Sche jun luejuu niganii wundamawachtowoagan, eli hokenk 
untschi pendamenk, woak ellellenk : wtelli necama woachejekumin Gettanittowit, woak 
hokenk talli taku hattelii enda pisgeek, techi taku nachpene tangitti, 6 Luejanque : ntelli 
witauchsomaneen, woak ihiabtschi lauchsiangue pegenink, nane ktelli achgeluneneen, 
woak taku ktelli nacbpauchsiwuneen wulamoewoagan. 7 Schuk ta lauchsianque woache- 
jekink, necama eli achpit woachejekink, nanne lissianque, natsch ne kwitauchsundineen, 
woak Gettanittowit Quisall N'Jesus Christ omoocum, geschiechichguneen untschi wemi 
kmattauchsowoagannenanink. 8 Luejanque : taku mattauchsowoagan hatteii nhakenanink, 
nanne nihillatschi gagiwalawuna khakeyina, woak taku ktelli latschessowewuneen wula- 
moewoagan. • 9 Schuk schachachgatschimuijanque kmattauchsowoaganennanink untschi, 
natsch ne necama tepi achgettemagelo woak wulamoe, wentschitsch pachkitatamaquonk 
kmattauchsowoaganenna, woak wentschitsch kschiechichquonk, untschi wemi ktschanauch- 
sowoagannenanink. 10 Luejanque : taku niluna n'mattauchsihummena, nanne gakeluneu- 
heneen Gettanittowit, woak wdaptonagan taku kdappitaguwuneen. 

The Delaware, another language of the great Algonquin stock, was spoken, at the time of the discovery 
of America, between the Hudson and the Susquehannah rivers, by the Delaware and Minsi tribes, who 
then constituted one nation. The Delawares call themselves Lenni Lenape, Indian men : it was with 
them that Penn concluded his celebrated treaty. They are now, with their kindred tribes, the Monsees, 
Shawanese, Kickapoos, Kaskaskias, Miamis, and Chippewas, dispersed along the frontier of the United 
States, from Canada to Georgia. The tribes who have not yet been brought under Christian civilisation 
wander about the country without any settled habitation, or regular means of subsistence. Fishing and 
the chase, says Gallatin, are the only pursuits which the men do not regard as beneath their dignity : 
•when not engaged in these, they sink into a state of mental and physical torpor, from which strong 
outward stimulants are requisite to arouse them; and hence their passion for gambling and ardent spirits. 
The women are the slaves and tire beasts of burden, the labours of the household and of the field 
devolving solely upon them. The government of these tribes is in the hands of hereditary chiefs, who, 
however, can preserve their authority only by the exercise of personal energy and courage. The 
religion of these people consists partly in the recognition of a Great Spirit; but all their rites and 
ceremonies have reference to an Evil Spirit, the supposed author of all calamities. 



448 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

The first version of the Scriptures executed under the patronage of the American Bible Society 
was the Delaware. In 1818 the Rev. Christian Frederick Dencke, a Moravian missionary stationed at 
New Fairfield, in Upper Canada, forwarded a translation of the Epistles of St. John to the Board of 
that Society. He afterwards furnished a version of the Gospels of St. John and St. Matthew, and an 
edition of these portions, printed in parallel columns with the English version, was issued by the 
Society. The edition consisted of 1000 copies, 300 of which were sent to the translator for distribution 
among the aborigines around his station, and 100 were consigned to Mr. Leuchenbach, for the use of 
the Delawares located in Ohio. No other scripture translation, except a harmony of the Gospels, printed 
in 1821, appears to exist in Delaware. The Moravian missionaries, during the earlier period of their 
labours in America, are reported to have translated parts of the Scriptures into the Delaware and 
Mohegan language; but none of their versions are extant, for, in 1781, all the books and writings 
which the zealous missionaries had prepared for the objects of the mission were destroyed by the 
savages. 



CREE. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. hi. v. 13 to 17. 
Jesus tush Galilee-yongk ke pe-oonje-pah ke penalize kahwaudt enewh John emah 

Jesus also Galilee at came from and came to John there 

Jordan-m^A che sekahuntahkookt (enewh John.) u Ov ke ahquahnwatahwaun tush 

at Jordan that he might be poured on by him ( John). He denied it to him also 

owh John, montah keenodt, neen sah ween nintezheminchenahwaiz che ke sekahuntah- 

John, and thus said to him, I indeed I so am needful that thou shouldest have poured 

wey ahpun montah, dush pe-nahnahzekahweyww. 15 Montah tush Jesus ooke enon, 

on me thus, and thou comest to me. Thus and Jesus he said to him, 

monnoo sah goo noongquoom ha tah tapwatawA, ^negeneen ewh ka ezhewapezeyww^ 

at least indeed now thou shouldst consent to me, voila how we should live 

koopun che kezhetooywwy kahkenah ewh quiyuk ezhewapezewin. Metush kah 

(morally) in order that we accomplish all (every) straight (right) 'onduct. And voila he 

ezhetapwataAwawcfa. 16 Jesus tush, ahpe kah sekahuntahwindt, quiyuk ke oonje koope 

consented to him. Jtsus and, when he was poured on, straight went inland from 

emah sepeenk : enah sah ke nesuhkoonahmahwah ewhety ispeming, kewuhpahmaudt 

there at (or in) the river : lo ! he was opened for there above, and he saw 

tush enewh keshamunnetoo oochechahqaon penahnahzhenidt, keche-oomemeenk ke 

also the Great Being his Spirit which was descending, a great pigeon it 

ezhenahkooseh ; ke pe-pooneedt tush emah ooweyahwm^ owh Jesus. h Tush enah 

was like ; and it lighted also there on his body Jesus. And lo ! 

ishpeming ke oonje kahnoonah, montah ke enint, Mesah mahpah ning quesis sahyah- 

above has from been spoken to, and thus he has been said to, Voila this same my son whom I 

keugh quiyuk ainnanemw^A. 

love for straight / think him. 

TnE most northerly of the Algonquin-Lenape nations are the Knisteneaux, or Kristeneaux, by 
abbreviation called the Crees. Their national designation is Nehetlwwuch, that is, " exact beings, or 
people." They occupy a greater extent of territory than any other nation of their race, being spread 



Glass VII.] CREE. 449 

through all, or nearly all, the region watered by the numerous livers which discharge themselves into 
Hudson Bay. In Canada, and in the country on the river St. Lawrence, they are more numerous 
than any other race of Indians ; yet in many districts they are so intermingled with other tribes, that it 
is difficult to form a correct estimate of their numbers. According to Gallatin, the northern branch of 
the Algonquin- Lenape family, which includes, besides the Crees, the Algonquins, the Chippewas, the 
Ottawas, the Pottawattomies, and the Mississagues, number as many as 35,000 or 40,000 souls. 

The Cree language, which partakes of all the peculiarities, as above described, of the American 
class, has been reduced to writing, and an excellent grammar has been compiled by Mr. Howse. A 
translation of the Liturgy of the Church of England into the Cree language, in Roman characters, has 
been made by Archdeacon Hunter, of the Church Missionary Society's North-west American mission, and 
an edition of 1000 copies was printed, in 1854, at the expense of the Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge. Two years later, this work was reprinted (at the expense of the same Society) in stereo- 
graphic or syllabic characters, which have been found a much easier vehicle for conveying instruc- 
tion to the Indians than the ordinary Roman letters. The words used in the North American 

SPECIMEN, EPOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 10. 

Waskuck keuyow unu Etwawin, mermh Etwawin ke'wecha waoo Kesamumtoowu, 
ko'ke Samunitooweo esu Etwawin. 2 Awokoo uwu waskuch kali kewechawaht ke 
samunitoowu. 3 Weyuh kukeyow kakwi kah ke'se'taht ; mahkuh wiyuh akah a etaht 
numuh kakwi kutu ke ke' sechikahtapun kah ke ke'sechikahtaik. 4 Weyuh ke'pemahtise- 
winweoo, menuh pemahtisiwin ke'sahkahstasteahkwuk uyeseyenewuk. 5 Akasee wahsay- 
ahsewin ke'sahkahstaoo etuh a'wun etipiskak, mahkuh wunetipiskow numuweeyuh ku' 
keskaye'tahmoomukun. 6 ^[Ke uyow uyesiyeneo Kesamumtoowu kah ke'pa esetisuookoot, 
Iohn kah esene'kahsoot. 7 Ke'pamuwahchimoo uwu kechi ahtootu'o wahsayah sewin, 
akosee kukeyow uyeseyenewuh weyuh kutuooc'hi tahpwa'tumeyit. 8 Numuhweeyuh 
kecahweoo ummuh wahsayahse win pikoo kechi paahtootu'k ummuh wahsayahse win, 
kepaoo'chi esetisuwahw. 9 Awokoo tahpwa wahsayahsewin weyahsaskumah koochick 
tutoo uyseyenewuk peya nookosetowh oatuh uskee'k. 10 Uskee'k ke'uyow, weeyuh mahkuh 
kah ke oose'taht uskeeyeoo, numuhweeyuh mahkuh ooke'keskay'e mekoon uskee'yeoo. 

[For the following Specimen of the sap 3 Passage in the Syllabic Character, we are indebted to Mr. W. M. Watts, Temple Bar.] 

Lflo-Lb 5 o- n C c . 

1 V-%" P"0V° <a. AU-A- 3 , fa. AU-A-> P"A-1V-° P^LoOO-, P"P%L<r':)A-° AK AU-A- 3 . 

2 VOd «• V"b~ bP"A-1<H PSLcrbO- 

3 A-b b'pv qb: b P"Pr J "C / ; Lb A-^ Vb VA"C' Q.L Sb: bCP"lV"rbU< 3 b P"Pr"T'bU\ 

4 A-V PALfYA-crA- , Fa. ALfYA-' P'^bXTbLb-^ <W^cr4-\ 

5 Vdt' «-YWA-> P"Kb"U° AC V'O-o-nA'V Lb 4-o-nA"b° q.LA-^ P"P n q^»C JLb 3 . 
G f P"«V° <3rVr^cr° PhLaO<]- b P'VArTm^d', l> b ArVbr 1 '. 

7 P"VL<3-fJ «-, Pf <JX X 4-^WA-\ Vdr^ b"P^° <rVr^r<l- A-^ bC >"P cV"Crr>'. 

8 c^LA-^ P"<JA-° <crL <KWA^ Ad PT V<X X <3crL <"\VM J P" V O'T ArTm<-°. 

9 VOd CV- <-VWA- 5 , A-VvVLdO C") <rV.Nr<P A^drX- \>C <TP X . 

io <TP X p"<V°, L-h> Lb p'WV <rp- aLA'V Lb [>p"p"q^- rd 3 <|« P .. 

30 



450 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

Indian dialects assume an unusually long appearance when exhibited in the ordinary Roman 
letters. 

It was not until 1852 that any portion of the Scriptures was printed in the Cree language; the 
Gospel of St. Matthew was in that year printed, in Eoman characters, at the cost of the Church Mis- 
sionary Society. In 1854, the British and Foreign Bible Society undertook an edition of the Gospel 
of St. John in the syllabic character (a specimen of which is given above), prepared by the Eev. J. 
Mason, one of the missionaries connected with the Church Missionary Society. Mr. Mason has prepared 
a Cree version of the Psalms, both in the syllabic and the Eoman character. Subsequently, an edition 
of 1000 copies of the Gospels of St. Mark and St. John, translated by Archdeacon Hunter, was printed 
at London, under the auspices of the Bible Society, and the Committee afterwards undertook an 
edition of 5000 copies of the entire New Testament in the Cree version, using the syllabic characters. 
This work was completed in London, in 1859, under Mr. Mason's superintendence. A corresponding 
edition of the Old Testament is now in progress. 



CHIPPEWA Y. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Wiazhkut miajetang ekettowin, ekettowin Kitche Manito wejewegon, ekettowindush 
Kitche Manito geawe. 2 Wiazhkutdush miajetang Kitche Manito wejeweg5n. 3 Kokkinna 
kago, ween ge onje ozhichegata, kaweendush kago ge ozhichegatasenSn, ween bwa ozhetot. 
4 Bematizzewin ogegishkan ; bematizzewindush aninnewug owasayamewa. 5 Wasaya 
wakashka kushkedibbikutonk ; kushkedibbikutdush ka otak5shkunzeen. 6 Aninne ge 
onje majenizzhiegazo Kitche Manito uzzhiat, John ezhenekazo. 7 Ge tuhkoshin keche 
onje quiukwandagwuk wasaya, kokkinna aninnewug ween onje die tabwa-andumowat. 
8 Kaween awisse eu wasaya, ga onje majenizzhiegazot, keche onje kekandumowat eu 
wasaya. 9 Me e-e kagat quiuk wasaya, kokkinna aninne watitunk ake owasashkagon. 

10 Alikeeng geia, ween ga onje gezhichegatag ake, akedush ka okekanemigooseen. 

11 Obeotissan tebinowa wanemajin, tebinowa wanemajindush ka okekanemigooseen. 

12 Menik kekanemigoot tiabwatagoot muslikawizzewin omenan Kitche Manito die oguisit, 
kokkinna tiabwatuminit otuhnozowinink : 13 Ka misque ge onje negesewug, ka giya 
weyas enandumowinink, ka giya aninne otenandumowinink, meatuh Kitche Manito ote- 
nandumowinink. 14 Ekettowin weyas ge onje ochichegata, che wetegamigoyunk, (neenge 
wabundamindush ogitchetwawizzewin, kitchetwawizzewin meatuh ga onjeeg osema) 
mooshkena shawanddgoozewin giya tabwanin. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Chippewas, or Ojibways, are dispersed through a considerable portion of British North America, 
and are also to be found in the United States. According to Catlin, they inhabit the eastern, north- 
eastern, and northern shores of Lake Huron, also the northern and southern shores of Lake Superior, 
the headwaters of the Mississippi, and even extend over an immense tract of country to the north and 
west of the Lake of the Woods, reaching nearly to Lake Winnepeg and Hudson Bay. They are 



Ciass VII.] CHIP PEW AY. 451 

divided into thirty bands, each of which is governed by a chief, and in number they collectively 
amount to about 25,000 individuals. 

p II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

The Chippeway and the other languages forming the northern branch of the Algonquin-Lenape 
family (namely, the Cree, Algonquin, Ottawa, Pottawattomie, and Mississague) are very closely allied 
in vocabulary and structure; and it is said that the tribes to whom these languages are respectively 
vernacular are more or less intelligible to each other. The Chippeway is particularly harmonious and 
dignified in sound : it differs from the Cree in the nasal character of its vowels, and also in possessing 
two negatives, like the French, one of which is interwoven with the verb through all its forms: the 
Cree vowels, at least in the northern districts, have no nasal sound, and a regular negative form does 
not appear to exist in that language. 

III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The first attempts to obtain a version of the Scriptures in Chippeway emanated from the York 
Upper Canada Auxiliary Bible Society. After much inquiry, only two individuals could be found 
willing and competent to undertake the translation, namely, two brothers named John and Peter Jones. 
They were native Indians of the River Credit district (in Western or Upper Canada) and had been 
employed to assist in the spiritual instruction of their countrymen by the Methodist Society. In 1831 
they commenced the translation of the Gospels; Captain Anderson, of the Rice Lake, undertaking 
to revise the work, and the British and Foreign Bible Society agreeing to defray the expenses. In 
1832 the Gospel of St. John was completed; and Peter Jones visited England for the purpose of 
carrying it through the press. In the correction and revision of the proof sheets, he was aided by the 
lamented Mr. William Greenfield, who had acquired considerable acquaintance with the language. 
The edition consisted of 1000 copies, and was completed during the course of the same year. It has 
been remarked of this edition that, in point of mechanical execution, it is " by far the best volume 
of Indian translation which has been sent among the sons of the forest." The version itself is highly 
esteemed, by missionaries of all denominations, as a faithful and accurate translation, and it has been 
several times reprinted. In 1838 an edition was issued at the expense of the American Bible Society, 
with the orthography altered, in conformity with the system adopted in the publications of the 
American Board. 

In 1833, when the Gospels of St. John, St. Matthew, and St. Mark only had been completed, the 
American Bible Society undertook the superintendence of the translation of the New Testament, and 
the Messrs. Jones directed their attention to the translation of the Old Testament. It was reported the 
following year that the whole New Testament had been translated by Dr. James, of the United States 
army, and that it was then passing through the press at Albany. Little is known concerning this 
edition, although the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society expressed their willingness 
to purchase copies, provided it should prove a faithful version. 

In 1835 a commencement was made towards the translation of the Old Testament, by the publi- 
cation of part of the book of Genesis, translated by Peter Jones, the above-mentioned native missionary. 
His version of the Gospel of St. Matthew was reprinted in 1839 by the American Board, at Boston. 
The Gospel of St. Luke had been printed two years previously by the same Society, from a translation 
executed by George Copway, a converted and educated Chippeway, and the Rev. Sherman Hall, 
of the La Pointe Mission, Lake Superior. These two translators were agents of the Methodist 
Episcopal Mission of Canada: they also effected a translation of the Acts, which was published at 
Boston in 1838. The Epistles of St. John were published at the same place in 1840; and in 1844 
an edition of the entire New Testament appeared at New York, under the auspices of the American 
Bible Society. The edition consisted of 1000 copies, but no intimation was appended respecting 
the names of the translators or the history of the translation. A new and revised edition of this 



452 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

version of the Ojibway New Testament was published by the American Bible Society in 1856, under 
the superintendence of the Rev. Sherman Hall. 

A translation of the New Testament into Ojibway has subsequently been undertaken by the 
Rev. Dr. O'Meara, a zealous and devoted missionary who has laboured for many years among the 
Indians of Lake Huron, and has been printed at Toronto, at the expense of the Society for Promoting 
Christian Knowledge. The value of this version (which issued from the press in 1854) has been 
generally acknowledged, both by intelligent natives and by the missionaries of various denominations 
who are engaged among them. The Society have undertaken to print another edition as soon as 
Dr. O'Meara shall have completed a revision upon which he has for some time past been engaged. The 
importance of such a work can hardly be over-estimated. " The Ojibway language (writes the Bishop 
of Toronto) is the most extensively used of all the North American Indian tongues." A version of the 
Prayer Book, accompanied by the Psalms, by the same indefatigable labourer in Christ's vineyard, 
has also been printed at Toronto, at the cost of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (1854). 
Immediately on the issue of the volume, 2000 copies of the Psalms contained in it were ordered from 
the printer in Toronto, by the Upper Canadian Bible Society. 

IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

The influence of this version is to be witnessed at several Indian settlements, where the consistent 
life and deportment of the converted natives contrasts forcibly with their former wild and sanguinary 
practices. Near the River Credit, in West Canada, for instance, there was in 1840 a village inhabited 
by about 220 Chippeway Indians, who but a few years ago were wandering in pagan darkness over the 
expanse of the country; now some among them are probably truly converted to God, while all make 
a profession of Christianity, and live in the outward observance of the Divine law. The same may 
be said of La Pointe, and other missionary stations, where Chippewas have been reclaimed from savage 
life, and taught to read the Word of God in their own tongue. And even among those members of 
this nation who have not yet been led within the pale of Christian and civilised life, there is said to be, 
in many districts, a preparedness of heart to receive the Gospel. The following gratifying testimony 
is borne to the value of the Ojibway translation of the Liturgy, in a letter to the Rev. the Warden of 
St. Augustine's College, from the Rev. J. L. Breck, of the Chippeway Mission, Canada West: — "Whilst 
the Indian is making gradual improvement in several respects, yet no feature of the mission is so 
attractive as the religious. The daily Ojibway service is attended, with great regularity, by a large 
number of Indians who are still pagans; thereby affording us the very best opportunity for instructing 
them in Christianity. They conform with the greatest apparent interest to all the usages of the Church 
as regards posture, and are beginning to respond and sing. We use the Anglican Prayer Book, which 
has been translated into Ojibway by an English missionary, the Rev. Fred. A. O'Meara, D.D., who 
ministers to the Chippewas on the Manitoulin Islands in Lake Huron. This help, in administering 
religion to a pagan people, is valuable beyond computation." 



Class VII.] OTTAWA. 453 

OJIBWAY. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Uaieshkut sv giaia au Ikitouin, gaie cbsh au Ikitouin ogiuijiuigon au Kishemanito, 
gaie dush go au Ikitouin gikishemanitoui. 2 Misv go au uaieshkwt gauijiuigut iniu 
Kishemaniton. 3 Uin sv go kvkinv vnoj gego ogigizhiton'im ; aiasibwn dush au, ka gego 
tagiozhijigadesinon, iu gaozhijigadeg. 4 Uin sv go gibimatiziuiniui ; iu dush bimatiziuin 
ogiuaseshkagonaua igiu ininiuug. 5 Iu dush uaseiaziuin gisagatemwgut ima pusugishkag ; 
ka d?;sh iu pusugishtibik gikikenjigemugusinon. 6 Giaia sv au inini iniu Kishemaniton 
gapiizhinazhaogujin, John gaizhinikazot. 7 Jitibadodu sv iu Uaseiaziuin gibionjiizha au, 
kukinu dwsh na iniu ininiuwn uin au jionjitebueienduminit. 8 Kauin go uin giauisi au 
Uaseiaziuin, gipiizhinazhaua sv uin, iu jitibadotv iu Uaseiaziuin. 9 Mis^? au keget Uaseia- 
ziuin uaiaseshkauat kukinu iniu ininiuyn paizhanijin oma aki. I0 Aki sv oma giaia ; uin go 
ogiozhiton iu aki ; ka dush ogikikenimigusin iu aki. n Ogibiizhanun iniu tebenudin, ka 
dvsh ogiotapinigosinvn iniu tebendwin. 12 Minik dush uin go gaotapinigut, ogirainan iu 
gushkieuiziuin iu dush jionijanisimigouat iniu Kishemaniton, igiu sv go taiebueienduig ima 
odizhinikazouini : 13 Igiu gaonjinigisigog ima miskui, gaie ima uiauimauini-inendvmouini, 
gaie ima ininiui-inendumouini, ima sv go etv Kishemanito. 14 Au dysh Ikitouin giuiasiuia, 
gaie dwsh giuijtunwkiminu, (giuabundumu dush iu obishigendaguziuin, iu tibinaue ezhibishi- 
gendaguzinit iniu Ueguisijin au Ueosimint,) baiataiinutinik iu shauenitiuin gaie iu tebueun„ 



OTTAWA. 

The Ottawas originally dwelt on the Eiver St. Lawrence, but they afterwards removed to Michigan, 
where they now possess five small reservations, collectively comprising about 66,560 acres. The 
population amounts to 760. The Ottawas are intimately connected with the Chippewas, whom they 
so closely resemble in language, customs, and manners, that they were considered by the earlier 
missionaries to be one and the same people. 

The first book printed in this language contained the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments, 
■with a few hymns, translated by Mr. and Mrs. Van Tassel, of the American Board of Missions : it was 
printed, with some spelling-lessons, at Hudson, Ohio, in 1829. Some years afterwards the Gospels of 
St. Matthew and St. John were translated by Jonathan Meeker; and the Ottawa text was compared 
Avith the Greek by the Rev. Francis Barker, A. M. An edition of these Gospels was issued from the 
Shawnee Baptist Mission-press in 1841. It does not appear that any further editions have been 
published. At most of the mission-stations the Ottawas, in common with other Indian nations, are 
instructed in the English language, and taught to read the English version, which is probably the 
cause of the limited demand for their vernacular Scriptures. 



454 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 



POTTAWATTOMIE. 

The Pottawattomies formerly resided in the islands called Noquet, near the entrance of Green Bay, 
Lake Michigan, where they "were to be found as late as the year 1671. They afterwards removed to the 
southern extremity of Lake Michigan, and some of them are still located in the country near that lake. 
Their language has become known in Europe through the medium of a vocabulary furnished by 
Smith Barton, a Roman Catholic catechism and prayer-book published at Baltimore, and a few works 
on Christian and elementary instruction, printed at the Shawnee Baptist Mission-press. It appears 
that Pottawattomie is so closely connected with the Ottawa and the Chippeway that these three lan- 
guages may almost be regarded as cognate dialects of one language. The only portion of the Scriptures 
at present translated into Pottawattomie consists of the Gospel according to St. Matthew and the Acts 
of the Apostles, of which an edition has been published at Louisville. The translation was made by 
Jonathan Lykins, and the orthography is regulated according to the artificial and complex system 
devised by Mr. Meeker. 



M I C M A C. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

[In the Phonetic Chaeacteb, by Isaac Pitman.] 

TAN ymskwes perktymkiGBk keluiswokyn shkys : sk keluis-wokyn tegweuiosynn Nikskfimyl, 
ek keluiswokyn Nikskcmewis. 2 Nb negym ten ymskwes perktymkiBsk tegwe-uiosynn NikskBtnyl 
3 'Msit kogmel wedji k.isi-dasik-sybynigyl negym uitininky : fik tsn kerguie negym mui kjsi-duik- 
syp, nc mui kisi-dasi-nuiksyp. i Mimadjuiokyn uitinink ehkys ; ck egwet mimadjuiokyn ylnuik 
uiwos-ergwegym-iuounB. 5 Rlc wosogwek wosadek bogyn-itpBk iktmk, Bk bogyn-itpek mui weswB- 
-duigiup. 6 Nb ylnuiok wedjil-kimuis-ynok NikskBms-wiktuik, teluiisisynok Sen. 7 Negym pegi- 
sinkys uinadji-wituis-swin, uiwitnisewiktymyn ne wosergwegy ; kuilcniBn 'msit wenik uitci-kmdlam- 
-sitymui-dinou mtininky. 8 Mui negym eguilc wosergwegy ; kedui elifibuigwedymkys uiwitnis- 
-swiktymyn eguilu wosergwegy. 9 Nb eguils kedlewrui wosergwek tsn Jgcgys uisitkymuik, wos-fidB- 
-duiosyni 'msit ylnuiy. 10 UJsitkymuik ehkys ; Bk uisit-kymui wedji kisidasiksyp uitininky, Bk 
uisitkymui mui kedji-fiksybynn. n Pegisinkys tsn etliuih-tali-gamitc, Bk etliuih-tali-gamitc mergwetc 
weswBlui-guik-sybyn. 12 Kfidui tBn tesilidji weswBiydji igynymiuotc filsuisuidi Niksksm uinidjyn- 
iny: eietc, tBni kedlamsitymui-d.ilidj.i uiwisuinym iktuik. 13 Tfinik mui wedjuih-skidj.i-nuilti.ikw 
mylde-wiktmk, kisnB mBBgei uilids-dfikynym iktuik, kisne ylnui uilids-dBkynym iktuik ; kfidiu 
wedjuih-skidji-nuil-tidjik Nikskfim-ewiktuik. u £Lk keluiswokyn ewBgei-WBsigyp, sk etlygBtkys tsn 
symuikw; fik nem-iduiui-diegyp uikmpmi-dtdBkynym ; stygs Wegwisit neuiktui-bistadjyl mkwisy 
uikuipmide-dfikynym, wodjuiiietc welfiltimkewe Bk kedle-weuiokyn. 

The Micmacs are the Souriquois of French writers : they inhabited the peninsula of Nova Scotia, with 
Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, and the western shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. According 
to the most recent information, they number between two and three thousand. They were long firmly 



Ciass VIL] SHAWANOE. 455 

attached to the French, from whom they had received their first ideas of religion ; and, until the 
conquest of Canada, they were always at war with the British colonists. 

The Micmac language belongs to the north-eastern branch of the Algonquin-Lenape stock, which 
division also embraced the Algonquin dialects spoken in Labrador, the dialects of two Etchemin tribes 
not yet extinct, and the Abenaquis, hereafter to be mentioned. Some small portions of Scripture, and 
also a Prayer-book, are said to have been rendered into Micmac by the early Jesuit missionaries, but 
neither had been printed, and the little knowledge of them that remained among the Micmacs of the 
present day had been preserved by means of transcription and oral tradition. It was reserved for the 
British and Foreign Bible Society to confer on the Micmac Indians the blessing of the Divine Word 
translated into their own tongue. The Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John were the first portions 
issued, in 1854. An edition of the Gospel of St. Luke, from a translation made by the Rev. Mr. Rand, 
was printed (at the cost of the Society) at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1856, and the Book of Genesis has 
since issued from the same source. Brief as is the time that has yet elapsed since the execution of these 
versions, some promising results have already been observable, and the prospect of the religious elevation 
of the poor Micmacs is regarded as very encouraging. 



ABENAQUI. 

The Abenaquis, who originally belonged to Nova Scotia and Maine, now inhabit a wide district of 
country situated to the south of the River St. Lawrence, between the St. John River, of New 
Brunswick, and the River Richelieu, in Canada. Their language differs but little from the Micmac. 
They were formerly associated with the Micmacs in alliance with the French, and in hostilities against 
the British colonies. They were early converted to Roman Catholicism ; but the only work, apparently, 
that was printed by the Jesuit missionaries for their benefit is a catechism in the Abenaqui language, 
published at Quebec, for the Roman Catholic Church, in 1822. The Gospel of St. Mark was a few 
years since translated into Abenaqui by a native preacher, named Osunkhirhine, and an edition was 
printed at Montreal. At the station of this preacher there were, in 1847, fifty-five native Abenaquis 
reclaimed from their savage state, and united in church-fellowship. 



SHAWANOE. 

Although the Shawanoes have been known to us since the year 1680, yet we possess no correct 
information concerning their previous history. The Sauks and Foxes, western tribes of the Algonquin- 
Lenape family, relate that the Shawanoes were originally of the same stock as themselves, but that after- 
wards migrating to the southward, they became separated from the rest of their kindred. This account 
is corroborated by the import of the word Shawanoe, which signifies south, and likewise by the situation 
of the Shawanoe settlements; for in all the ancient French maps this people is invariably represented 
as dwelling on the south of the Ohio, and as extending in a southwardly direction to the Cumberland 
River. They were driven from that territory, probably by the Cherokees, during the first half of the 



456 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

sixteenth century. They crossed the Ohio, and we afterwards hear of them as the active allies of the 
French during the seven years' war, and as the fierce opponents of America during the war of indepen- 
dence. They are now much dispersed: the greater part of them have removed west of the Mississippi, 
and the number of these amounts to about 1500 individuals. 

The Gospel of St. Matthew has been translated into Shawanoe, probably by the Baptist mission- 
aries. The translation was compared with the Greek text by J. A. Chute, M. D. ; and an edition was 
printed, in 1836, at the Shawanoe Baptist Mission-press, Indian territory. Sixteen pages of hymns 
were added by Mr. Lykins, and printed with this edition; but no further translations of any portion 
of Scripture appear to have been effected. 



MOHAWK. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 



Tsidyodaghsawen ne Logos keaghne, etlio Yehovahne yekayendaghkwe ne Logos, 
ok oni Logos ne naah Yehovah. 2 Ne ne sagat tsidyodaghsawen enskatne Yehovahne 
yekayendaghkwe. 3 Yorighwagwegon ne rodeweyenbkden, ok tsi nikon ne kaghson yagh 
oghnahhoten teyodon ne ne yagh raonha te hayadare. 4 Raonhage yewedaghkwe ne 
adonheta ok oni ne adonheta naah ne raodighswatheta n'ongwe. 5 Aghson tsidyokaras 
watyoghswathet ok yaghten yeyoyenda-on. G Rayadatogen ne Yehovah ronha-on ne ne 
John ronwayatskwe. ' Ne wahhoni warawe tsi rodogense, ne ne aontahharighwatrbri tsi 
watyoughswathet, ne ne aontyesenhak agwegon n'ongwe raonha raoriwa aonteyakawegh- 
daghkonhek. 8 Yagh raonha te keaghne ne etho kaghswathetsera, ok ne ne rowanha-on 
n'ahaderighwatrory tsini kaghswathetseroten. ° Ne naah ne togenske kaghswathetsera, 
ne ne watyakoghswatheta agwegon ne ongwe ne ne oghwhenjage yakoghwa eston. 
10 Oghwhenjage yeresgwe, yorighwagwegon ne naah rodeweyenbkden, ok n'ongwe yaghten 
howayenderhe-on. n Egh warawe tsi Rawenniyoh, ok ne s'hakowenniyoh yaghten hon- 
warighwatsteristha. 12 Ok tsinihadi ronwarighwatsteristha, rononha s'hakogwenyori 
tserawi ne ne enhonadon ne Yehovah s'hakoyea-ongonwa, ne ne rononha agwagh ne 
teyakaweghdaghkon ne raoghseanakon : 13 Ok tsironwanadewedon yaghten ne kaneg- 
wenghsage, yaghoni tsi yaweron n'Owaron, yaghoni tsi-ireghre n'ongwe, ok deaghnon ne 
Yehovah tsinihonigonroten. 14 Ok ne Logos owaron waondon ok oni tsi yakwenderon 
wahhanadayen (ok ne wakwaskaghtho ne roagloria, ne ne gloria tsi niyought ne raonhaon 
ne rodewedon ne Ronihha) rananon ne gracia ok oni ne togensketsera. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

Mohawk, an Iroquois language, was spoken by the most powerful people of the confederation of 
the Five Nations. This confederacy is sometimes called " The Six Nations," the Tuscaroras of North 
Carolina having eventually joined it; but it originally included only the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the 
Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas. They resided on the Mohawk River and the lakes which 
still bear their name, and extended their conquests to the Mississippi, and beyond the St. Lawrence. 
Greater indications of courage, energy, and intelligence, have been manifested by these six nations than 



Class VII.] MOHAWK. 457 

by any other race of North America. They were far inferior in numbers to the Algonquin tribes, yet 
always appear to have maintained an ascendancy over them, as well as over all the neighbouring nations. 
They espoused the cause of the British against the French during the war between the two powers ; 
and by their single prowess they counterbalanced the advantages derived by the French from the 
alliance of the other Indian nations. In the war of independence, they still remained faithful to 
Britain; and on account of the part they had taken in that struggle, the Mohawks were compelled, in 
1780, to abandon their lands, and take refuge in Canada, where they remain to this day. The remnant 
of this warlike and once formidable confederacy cannot now exceed 7000 souls ; whereas, in the 
beginning of the seventeenth century, the six nations numbered 40,000 individuals: this astonishing 
decrease in numbers is the result of the destructive wars in which they were perpetually involved. 

The languages respectively vernacular to each of these six nations are all of the Iroquois stock, 
and so closely resemble each other, that the Mohawk version of the Scriptures is said to be intelligible 
to the whole confederacy, and likewise to the Hurons or Wyandots, the southern branch of the Iroquois 
family. 

II. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

In the year 1700, the Kev. Mr. Freeman, an exemplary Calvinist minister in New York, devoted 
himself to the spiritual instruction of the Mohawks, and translated the Gospel of St. Matthew, and 
several chapters of the Old and New Testaments, into their language. These translations he presented 
"to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, who caused some of the chapters 
to be printed, with a portion of the Liturgy of the Church of England, which had been translated into 
Mohawk by their missionary, Mr. Andrews: the edition was printed at New York in 1714. Tbe same 
portions of Scripture were reprinted with the Liturgy, in New York, in 1769; but Mr. Freeman's 
complete version of the Gospel of St. Matthew is said still to remain in MS. 

In 1787 another translation of this Gospel was made by Joseph Brant, a Mohawk by birth, called 
by his people Tarenya wagon. This singular man had been educated at one of the American colleges, 
and held a commission as captain in the British army: it has been said of him, that "if he became 
a savage in battle, and exhibited the peculiar subtlety, cruelty, and power of Indian deception while 
on the war path, he had the power to sink into a philosophic calm in his study." His version of 
St. Matthew was printed, in 1787, in London, with a third edition of the Liturgy in Mohawk: the 
expenses were defrayed by the English Government. Another edition of this Aversion was published at 
New York in 1829, by the New York District Bible Society, in which the Mohawk and English 
versions are printed on opposite columns: by means of this arrangement, it is clearly seen how much 
the English excels the Mohawk language in point of brevity. At the close of the volume is a collec- 
tion of sentences, selected and translated by Brant, from various parts of the Scriptures, and designed 
for practical instruction. The judgment evinced by Brant in this selection proves that he was theo- 
retically acquainted with the main doctrines of Christianity. 

The next portion of the Scriptures translated into Mohawk was the Gospel of St. John. The 
translator, who also ranked as captain in the British army, was known to Europeans under the English 
name of John Norton. He was a Cherokee by birth, but in his infancy had been naturalised among 
the Mohawks, so that the language of his adopted nation (of which he was afterwards elected a chief) 
was his vernacular tongue. He visited England for the purpose of obtaining a confirmation of the 
grants under which the Mohawks obtained the Great River settlement ; and about the same period, 
his mind being directed to the spiritual and moral improvement of his people, he commenced a trans- 
lation of the Gospel of St. John into Mohawk. He drew his translation from the English version, for he 
had from childhood been familiarly acquainted with the English language, and had served as interpreter 
to the British army. In 1804 his work was completed, and an edition of 2000 copies was published, 
with the English version in parallel columns, by the British and Foreign Bible Society. These copies 
were forwarded for distribution to different stations in Upper Canada, and in the Ohio and Oneida 



458 



AMERICAN LANGUAGES. 



[Class VII. 



«//fa' 



country. Another edition was published by the American Bible Society in 1818, the correctness of 
the version having been attested by the interpreters in the Indian villages. 

An intelligent Mohawk chief, named A. Hill, was engaged, during the year 1826 and two 
following years, in a translation of the Four Gospels; and a princess of the same nation, well qualified 
for the work, undertook the translation of the Acts. No printed edition, however, appears to have 
been issued of any further portion of Scripture till 1832, when 1000 copies of the three Epistles of 
St. John (translated by the Rev. Mr. Williams) were ordered to be printed by the American Bible 
Society, as soon as evidence could be obtained as to the correctness of the translation. During the 
same year Hill's version of the Gospel of St. Luke was committed to the press, after having been sub- 
mitted to the correction of J. A. Wilkes, jun., of Grand Eiver, Canada West. The edition was printed 
in parallel columns with the English version, at the expense of the Young Men's Bible Society, 
Methodist church, New York. The same Society published, in 1835, at New York, a version of the 
Acts and of the Epistle to the Romans, translated by Hill, and corrected by Wm. Hess and 
J. A. Wilkes, jun. In 1835 the Epistle to the Galatians, and in 1836 the Epistles to the Philippians, 
Colossians, Thessalonians, and to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, were published by the same Society: 
the translation was executed by Hess, an educated Mohawk, and corrected by Wilkes. The Mohawks 
are thus in possession of nearly all the books of the New Testament; and it is to be hoped that 
a complete edition of the entire Scriptures will soon be bestowed upon them. A Mohawk version 
of Isaiah has also been printed; the Pentateuch and Psalms are stated to have been translated into the 
same language, but have not yet been printed. 



III. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. 

As to tne effects produced by the perusal of the Mohawk translations, we have the following 
testimony from the Rev. Mr. Ryerson, of Canada: — " The portion of the Scriptures that has 
been given to the Mohawks has made them, in many respects, a people prepared for the Lord. When 
the missionaries preached the Gospel of Christ to them, they found several of them in the same 
interesting state of mind as Peter found Cornelius; and considerable numbers gave evidence of their 
having become real Christians." And it has been stated, as a pleasing instance of the prompt and 
independent spirit of these children of the forest, that, when the version of St. John's Gospel was first 
introduced among them, the Mohawks at Caughnawaga village, in Lower Canada, being members of 
the Church of Rome, convened a council of their chiefs, to deliberate upon the propriety of receiving 
the Scriptures, and unanimously resolved, that all their people should be left at liberty to accept of 
the Gospel. 



SENECA. 

The Iroquois languages are less soft and flowing than the Algonquin-Lenape, but are characterised 
by their masculine and sonorous articulations. To the Iroquois family belongs the Seneca, a language 
spoken by one of the six nations, whose original seat was in the province of New York. The Senecas 
are now dispossessed of their ancient territories, but they still own some reservations in Western New 
York, on Cataraugus Creek, and on Buffalo Creek ; and a few of them reside in Ohio. According to 
the " Ne Iaguhnigoagesgwathah " (Mental Elevator), a Seneca miscellany of religious and general 
information, conducted by the missionaries, the total population of all the Senecas in New York, in 
1845, was 2630; in 1846, 2720; — denoting an increase of births over deaths in one year of ninety souls. 



Class VII.] CHEROKEE. 459 

The Gospel of St. Luke has been translated into the Seneca tongue by T. S. Harris, of the 
American Board, aided by a Seneca young man educated at the mission-school; an edition of 500 
copies was printed at New York, in 1829, for the American Bible Society. An edition of 500 copies 
of the Sermon on the Mount, in Seneca, has also been printed by the American Tract Society. Except 
the Mohawk, no translation has been made into any other Iroquois language. A translation, ostensibly 
in Oneida, of the English Prayer Book has been effected by the Eev. Solomon Davis, missionary to 
the Oneidas, at Duck Creek, Wisconsin; but this translation, though intelligible to the people of his 
charge, is not written in pure Oneida, nor indeed in any dialect ever spoken by the six nations. It is 
well known that the Iroquois languages so closely resemble each other, that the tribes to whom they 
are respectively vernacular are able to converse together. The Mohawk and Seneca versions, being thus 
more or less accessible to all the Iroquois nations, supply the place of translations in the other Iroquois 
languages. 



CHEROKEE. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

The Cherokees, at the time they first became known to Europeans, occupied an extensive territory 
situated north and south of the south-westerly continuation of the Appalachian Mountains, and on both 
sides of the Cherokee or Tennesse River. They were less averse to the cultivation of the soil than the 
more northern Indian nations; but, like the rest of their countrymen, they were perpetually involved 
in war with the neighbouring tribes. During the war of independence they fought under the British 
banner, but afterwards sided with the Americans. It is said that since they came in contact with 
the Europeans, and notwithstanding successive cessions of part of their territory, their numbers, at least 
during the last forty years, have increased. In 1762 their warriors were estimated at 2300; but 
Adair was informed that, forty years previously, they had numbered 6000. A late estimate of the 
Indian War-department represents the Cherokee nation as consisting of 15,000 souls, exclusive of about 
1200 negro slaves belonging to them. Many of the Cherokees have removed west of the Mississippi, 
to lands given them by the United States in exchange for their possessions east of that river. Civilisa- 
tion is making rapid progress among them; and they now possess written laws in their own language, 
which seem likely to supersede their ancient customs and traditions. 

II. — characteristics of the language. 

The Cherokee, the Creek or Muskogee, and the Chocktaw languages, with the dialects of some 
petty tribes spoken in their vicinity, are connected by so many points of affinity, as to be considered, 
philologically as well as geographically, a distinct branch or family of the American class of languages. 
With reference to their geographical position, they have been designated the Appalachian or Floridian 
group. 

Dr. Barton regarded Cherokee as an Iroquois language, and even Gallatin was inclined to adopt 
the same opinion; but, although there are points of similarity in these as in all other American languages, 
the direct affinities between Cherokee and the Iroquois languages are comparatively few and remote. 
There is some difficulty in obtaining a competent knowledge of the Cherokee language, on account of 
the complexity of its forms. It is encumbered with a dual number; and in the simple conjugation of 
the present of the indicative, including the pronoun in the nominative and oblique cases, there are no 
less than seventy distinct forms. There are likewise various other nice distinctions to be noted in 



460 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

reference to the verb, trie forms of which denote whether the object be animate or inanimate, whether 
or not the person spoken of is expected to hear what is said, and other particulars. A very ingenious 
alphabet, admirably adapted to express the sounds of this language, has been invented by a native 
Cherokee, named Sequoyah, but more commonly known by the name of Guess. It consists of eighty- 
five characters, and each character denotes an entire syllable. As all the articulations in the language 
are included in this alphabet, a mere acquaintance with the eighty-five characters is all that is requisite 
to enable a learner to read Cherokee. With respect to sound, it is a strongly-articulated language, and 
the sibilant decidedly predominates. Every Cherokee syllable ends in a vocal or nasal articulation, and 
there are no other double consonants but tl or dl, and ts, and combinations of s with four or five different 
consonants. 

III. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

The first portion of the Scriptures printed in this language was the Gospel of St. Matthew, a 
second edition of which appeared in 1832, and a third in 1840; but the year of its first appearance is 
not specified, neither is the name of the translator generally known. The three editions were published 
at the Arkansas Mission-press, Park Hill, at the expense of the American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions. In 1833 a version of the Acts was published for the same Society, at New Echota, 
translated by the Rev. Samuel Worcester, in concert with Elias Boudinot, an educated Cherokee. A 
version of the Gospel of St. John, carefully prepared by the same translators from the Greek original, 
was published at the Arkansas Mission-press in 1838 ; and this edition, published under the sanction of 
the American Board, was aided by a grant from the American Bible Society. This Gospel was reprinted 
at the same press in 1840, and again in 1841. In 1844 a volume containing the Gospels, the Acts, 
the Epistles to Timothy, and various detached portions of Scripture, was printed at the Arkansas 
Mission-press, Park Hill, for the American Board: this and all the above mentioned editions were 
printed in the Cherokee character. 

Further assistance towards printing the Scriptures in Cherokee was afforded, in 1845, by the 
American Bible Society; and the superintendence of the work was undertaken by the Rev. S. Worcester, 
who had, as Iras been stated, translated part of the New Testament into Cherokee, and who had resided 
many years as a missionary among the people speaking that language. Editions, consisting of 6000 
copies of the Eprstle to the Ephesians, of 5000 copies of the Epistles to the Philippians and Colossians, 
with the First and Second Epistles of Peter, were printed in 1848; but although several years have 
now elapsed since the translation of the New Testament into Cherokee was accomplished, no notice has 
been yet received respecting the completion of the entire version at press. 

Comparatively few details have been transmitted concerning the results of the perusal of the 
Cherokee portions of Scripture now in circulation : but that these portions are valued by the Cherokees 
is attested by the fact, that a Bible Society has been organised among them, for the purpose of enabling 
every member of their nation to read what has been printed in their language of the Word of God. 
It was stated, in 1847, that the number of converted natives in connection with the Cherokee Mission 
was about 240 souls; but it is probable that many more have since been added to the Church. 



Class VII.] CHOCKTAW, 461 



CHOCKTAW. 

SPECIMEN, FKOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 

Ummona ka Anumpa hyt ahanta mut, Anumpa hut Chihowa ya ai iba chyfa tok : 
mihmut Anumpa hash ot Chihowa ya tok. 2 Yvmmak inli hosh ummona ka Chihowa ya 
ai iba chvfa tok. 3 Ywmmak atuk mak g nan okluha kut toba tok ; yohmi ka nana kvt 
toba tok vt yymmak g keyu hokimo ik tobo ki tok. 4 Yummak oka isht ai okchaya yyt 
asha tok : yohmi ka isht ai okchaya yummak ash ot hatak puta ka in tohwikeli ya tok. 
5 Mihmvt tohwikeli hash ot ai okhlilika ya a tohommi ; yohmi ka okhlilika jvt yvmmak 
ash o ik akostinincho ki tok. 6 Hatak Chan hohchifo hosh, Chihowa nana aiahni ho aya 
tok. 7 Yumma pulla tuk mak g hatak vt momvt yimma hi g, yvmmak ash osh nan atokoli 
osh Nan-tohwikeli ash atokowa anola chi hosh aya tok. 8 Yummak osh Nan-tohwikeli 
mih mak a tok keyu ; amba Nan-tohwikeli yumma atokowa anola chi mak osh aya tok. 
9 Yakni pakna hatak vt at utta hoka mominchit in tohwikelichi, ynnmak osh Nan-tohwikeli 
ahli mak a tok. 10 Yvmmak atuk mak g yakni vt toba tok g. yakni a ai ahanta ma, yakni 
vt yummak ash ik ithano ki tok. u Yummak okv t ayvt ilap immi uhleha hg im via, ma, 
immi uhleha hash osh ik i yimmo ki tok. 12 Amba laua kaniohmi hosh ahninchit, ilapo 
hohchifo ha i yimmi hokimo, Chihowa ushi uhleha toba chi mak g isht ai ulhpesa ka ima 
tok ; 13 Issish ak g keyu, mikmut haknip nan ahni keyu, micha hatak osh nan ahni keyu 
hg, yummak dkvt toba tok ; amba Chihowa yak a tok. 14 Micha Anumpa hash ot nipi yg 
toba cha, nan isht i kana, micha nana aiahlika aienut isht alotowa hosh pi takla ahanta 
tok : yohmi na isht a holitopa ya, Iki a Ushi vt achufa ilia cha ai isht a holitopa chatuk 
mak g, chiyuhmi hg e pihisa tok. 

I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. 

A LARGE extent of territory, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Cumberland Eiver, if not to the 
Ohio; bounded west by the Mississippi, and east by the country of the Cherokees and Creeks, 
constituted the ancient area of the Chocktaw language. The Chicasas, a people politically distinct from 
the Chocktaws, but speaking the same language, and evidently belonging to the same stock, occupied 
the north of this territory. All the southern portions were inhabited by the Chocktaws, sometimes 
called Flatheads, from a practice prevalent among them, in common with other Indian tribes, of 
artificially flattening the head in infancy. 

The Chocktaws have been always more addicted to agriculture than to warfare or the chase. As 
early as the year 1772 they were considered more advanced in civilisation than any of the neighbouring 
tribes. They did not disdain to assist their wives in the labours of the field; and Bernard Eomans, in 
his Natural History of Florida, says of them, that they might be considered as a nation of farmers 
rather than of savages. " Their way of life in general (remarked that old writer) may be called 
industrious; they will do what no other uncompelled savage will do, that is, work in the field to 
raise grain." The number of Chocktaws capable of bearing arms was estimated by Bernard Eomans 
at less than 3000 : according to a late estimate of the War-department, the Chocktaw nation consists 
of 18,500 souls, of which number about 15,000 are already settled on lands west of the Mississippi, 



462 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

allotted to them by the United States, on condition of their ceding certain portions of their ancient 
territories. 

II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. 

Although this language is constructed upon the same grammatical principles as all the other 
American languages, its uniform system of inflections, and its peculiar method of compounding words, 
render it more simple and easier of acquisition to Europeans than any other language of its class. It is 
comparatively free from the perplexing multiplicity of forms which obstruct the progress of the learner 
in most of the cognate languages. The terminations of words are not varied under the two general 
divisions of animated beings and of inanimate objects. Gender is denoted by affixing to the noun a 
distinct word signifying male or female. Nouns have no plural form ; but this defect is supplied some- 
times by affixing a word indicative of multitude, sometimes by adding the plural form of the possessive 
pronoun, and sometimes by means of verbs and adjectives, many of which, especially the former, are 
susceptible of inflections denoting plurality. There are no prepositions, their office being in this, as in 
other American languages, subserved by verbal inflections; but there are several inseparable particles 
which are employed, as in our own language, in the formation of compound words. It is probably on 
account of the comparative simplicity of its structure, that the Chocktaw has been adopted by the 
French as a general medium of communication with all the Indian tribes residing near the Chocktaw 
country. 

III. — VERSION OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. 

Several detached portions of the Scriptures and summaries of Scriptural history have, at various 
times, been printed in Chocktaw, and inserted in books of elementary instruction. The first separate 
edition of any portion of the Scriptures in this language consisted of a version of the Acts, which 
appeared at Boston in 1839, at the expense of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign 
Missions. The translation had been drawn from the original, and bore many indications of the care 
with which it had been executed : a detailed table of contents, and other useful notices, were printed 
at the end of the volume. An edition of the Epistles of St. John, and another of the Epistle of 
St. James, appeared at the Park Hill MissionTpress, the one in 1841, and the other in 1843. The 
Gospels, translated from the Greek, and considered faithful representations of the original, were printed 
separately, at Boston, during the year 1845, for the American Board. In 1849 an edition, in 2000 
copies, of a Chocktaw version of the entire New Testament was printed by the American Bible Society. 
The translation had been effected by the Rev. Alfred Wright and his fellow-missionaries: full and 
satisfactory evidence was obtained as to the value of the work, and there is every prospect of its 
extensive usefulness. Various portions of the Old Testament have since been issued by the American 
Society — comprising the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the 1st and 2nd books of Samuel, and the 
1st and 2nd books of Kings. The last mentioned of them was published at the Society's house in 
1856, under the direction of the Rev. Mr. Edwards, of the Chocktaw mission. 



Class VII.] 



DACOTA. 463 



DACOTA, OR SIOUX. 

SPECIMEN, EKOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 

Otokahe ekta Wicoie kin hee ; Wicoie kin he Wakantanka kici un, qa Wicoie kin 
he Wakantanka kin ee. 2 Otokahe ehantanhan najin Wakantanka kici un kin hee. 
3 He eciyatanhan taku owasin kagapi qa taku kin tokan tanhan takudan kagapi xni. 
4 Wiconi kin iho hee. Wiconi kin he wicaxta iyojanjan kin iho hee. 5 Iyoyanpa kin 
hee otpaze cin en omdesya un tuka otpaze cin he iyowinkiyapi xni. 6 Wicaxta wan Jan 
eciyapi e Wakantanka wakiconze ca u xi. 7 Hi kin he wayuotanin hi, iyoyanpa kin 
oyake kta, hecen on taku owasin iye eciyatanhan wowicada kta. 8 Iyoyanpa kin he iye 
nxi, tuka iyoyanpa kin he yaotanin kta e u xipi. 9 Iyoyanpa rincake cin h >, wicaxta 
owasin toka wicatonpi ehantanhan iyoyanpa wicaye cin hee. 10 Iyoyanpa kin he oyate 
owasin en un qa Iyoyanpa kin he oyate owasin wicakaga tuka oyate kin sdonyapi xni. 
11 Tipi tawa kin ekta wicahi tuka iyowinkiyapi xni. 12 Tona iyowinkiyapi kin hena 
Wakantanka cinca wicaya yakonpi kta e okihi wicaya, tona iye caje wicadapi kin hena. 
13 We eciyatanhan wicatonpi xni, qa nakun wicaxta tawacin kin eciyatanhan xni ; 
Wakantanka tawacin kin hecedan eciyatanhan wicatonpi. 14 Wicoie kin he wicacerpi 
kagapi, unkiyepi kin en ounye ; wowicake waxteya un. Wootanin tawa kin wanunya- 
kapi, wootanin kin he Cihintku ixnana icaga Atkuku eciyatanhan u kin he iyececa. 

The Sioux race, comprising upwards of 50,900 individuals, is divided into four distinct nations, 
namely, the Winebagos, the Dacotas or Sioux Proper, the Assiniboins, and the Osages, with the Iowas 
and other kindred tribes; all of whom reside west of the Mississippi. The only languages of this 
family into which the Scriptures have been translated are those of the Sioux Proper and of the Iowas. 
The former call themselves Dacotas, and sometimes Ochente Shakoans, or Seven Fires, probably 
because they are divided into seven tribes. They dwell on the Upper Mississippi, and on the St. 
Peter's River, and some are found as far west as the Missouri. In number they have been estimated 
at 20,000. They do not cultivate the soil; but, although erratic in their habits and addicted to 
warfare, they are less sanguinary and ferocious than the Indian nations east of the Mississippi. A 
marked difference in this respect is said, in fact, to exist between the tribes dwelling east and west of 
that river, — all the nations of the western prairie being less fierce and cruel in their practices than the 
rest of their countrymen. Prisoners taken in war are put to death by all savages, but the revolting 
custom of subjecting them for whole days to excruciating tortures does not prevail among any people 
west of the Mississippi. 

The Dacota differs from its cognate languages chiefly in its peculiar method of forming the plural, 
which process consists simply in affixing the termination pee; e.g. watah, a canoe, watahpee, canoes. 
A whole sentence in the singular number would be rendered plural throughout by affixing this termi- 
nation to the last word, whether noun, pronoun, or adjective. 

No edition of any portions of the Scriptures in this language was printed till 1839; but during 
that year the following editions were published at Cincinnati, Ohio, at the expense of the American 
Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions: — 1. A volume of Old Testament Extracts, chiefly 
selected from the book of Genesis and the Psalms, translated from the French version of the Bible, by 
Joseph Renville, and prepared for the press by Dr. Williamson. 2. The History of Joseph and his 



464 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

Brethren, extracted and translated from the book of Genesis, by S. TV. and G. H. Pond, educated 
natives. 3. The Gospel of St. Mark, translated orally by J. Renville, and written at his dictation by 
Dr. Williamson. Three years after the issue of these editions, a complete version of Genesis, with 
some of the Psalms, was printed at Cincinnati for the American Board; this translation had been 
drawn immediately from the Hebrew by the missionaries of the American Board and Mr. J. Renville. 
The Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of St. John, and the book of Revelation, were translated about 
the same period, from the Greek, by Stephen R. Riggs, A. M. : this version was printed in one volume, 
at Cincinnati, in 1843, for the American Bible Society. The translation of the New Testament into 
Dacota does not appear to be yet completed. 



IOWA. 

The Iowa is a Sioux dialect, closely allied to the Dacota, spoken by the Iowas or Pahoja {Grey Snow), 
a nation of the Sioux race, who reside north of the river Des Moines. Many of the Iowas, however, 
have joined the Ottoes on the south side of the Platte, and are even said (although no proof has been 
afforded of the assertion) to have adopted the language of that people. The number of the Iowas has 
been computed at 1200. Five chapters only of the Gospel of St. Matthew have been translated into 
this language. These chapters were translated by Messrs. Irvin and Hamilton, missionaries among the 
Iowas on the Missouri, in the service of the Board of Foreign Missions, connected with the Presbyterian 
Church of the United States. Some Iowa hymns, a primer, and part of an Iowa grammar, have been 
already published : and the completion of the Iowa version of tire New Testament has been anticipated 
with much interest. Several years, however, have elapsed without the evidence of any further progress 
toward this desirable end. 



PAWNEE. 

The Pawnee language is vernacular to two nations, the Pawnees proper and the Ricaras or Aricaras, 
sometimes called Black Pawnees. The former inhabit the country on the Platte west of the Ottoes and 
Omahows, and have three villages on the Loup, a northern tributary of the Platte. The Ricari villages 
are situated on the Missouri, in lat. 46° 30'. Both nations cultivate the soil : their collective popula- 
tion may amount to 9500 souls. The language has distinctive peculiarities of its own, and differs from 
any of the other idioms of its class that have hitherto been examined. The Gospel of St. Mark has 
been translated by the missionaries stationed on the Platte, under the sanction of the American Board: 
but although the Pawnees have evinced great readiness to receive religious instruction, it does not 
appear that any printed edition has yet been issued in their language. 



Class VII.] MEXICAN. 465 



MEXICAN, OK AZTEC. 

SPECIMEN, FROM St. LUKE, Chap. vi. v. 27 to 38. 

27 Tel namech ilhuia amehuantin in an nech caqui : xi quin tlazotlacan in amo 
tecocolicahuan, xi yec tlachihuacan inca in aquique amech cocolia, 28 Xic yec itocan 
i aquin amo an mech yec itoa, yhuan xi tlatlatlatican impampa in aquique an mecli 
ilihuiz te ilhuia. 29 Yhuan in aquin mitz cama tlatziniz zic tlali li in occecapal mo ixtel 
maquitlatzini. Yhuan in aquin qui nequi mitz quixtiliz in mo aya, amo xic tzacuili 
qui huicaz no yu. qui in mo hueyac tlaquen, nozo in mo coton. 30 Mochi tlacatl mitz 
itlaniliz in tlen tic pia, xic maca : yhuan in aquin mitz anilia in tlen mo huax ca, ano 
occepa xic itlanili. sl Tel quenami an qui nequi yec tlachihuazque in tlatlacame an 
moca, no yucon xi yectlachihuacan inca in iehuantin. 32 Auh in tla an quin tlazotla in 
aquique an mech tlazotla, £ tlen tel an qui cuapantia ? ipampa in tlatlacoanime" no mo 
nehuan tlazotla. 33 Yhuan in tla an yec tlachihua inca in aquique am mech yec tlachi- 
huilia, ,$ tlen tel an quimo tenhuizque ? ipampa in tlatlacoani no yticon quichihua. 
34 Yhuan intla an quin tlatlanetia in aquique an quinemilia amech tlatlanetizque, & tlen 
an quimotenhuizque ? ipampa in tlacoanin6 no yu. mo nehuan tla netia ica no yu. qui 
celizque" tlatlan^tiloni. 35 Xi quin tlazotlacan in amo tecocolicahuan : xi yec tlachi- 
huacan, yhuan xi te tlanetican, yhuan amo ica on itla tlacuep cayotl an qui temnachi 
azque ; yhuan in amo tlaxtlahuil yez miec, an yezque am ipilhuan in cenca huecapan 
Teotl, ipampa in yehuatzin cuali inca i actlazocamatini yhuan in acqualme. 3G Tel xi 
yecan an te icnoittani quenami in a mo tatzin teic noittani. 37 Amo xic nequican an 
tenemiliz yeyecozque ihuan amo an nemiliz yeyecolozque" : amo xi te tlatzontequilican 
yhuan amo an tlatzontequililozque ; xi te tlapopolhuican yhuan an an tlapopolhuil- 
ozque. 38 Xi tlatemacacan yhuan an macozque : tlatamachihualoni qualli, telinqui 
yhuan tlahuihuixoli yhuan tzonequi qui macazque" in amo yollo. Ypampa zanyeye in 
(vara) tlatamachihualoni ica antetlatamachihuilizque antlatamachihualozque. 

At the time of the discovery of America, the Mexican or Aztec language was spoken in the valley of 
Mexico, and in the country immediately adjacent on the east and south. It still prevails in the states 
of Mexico, Vera Cruz, and Tabasco, of which the collective population was estimated, in 1850, at 
1,300,000. Spanish, however, is the language of the white population, and the general medium of 
intercourse in these states, as well as in the other provinces of the republic of Mexico, the Mexican and 
Otomi languages being chiefly confined to the native Indians. The Mexican language is also still 
spoken in a district of New Mexico, where a colony of native Mexicans have for more than two 
hundred years preserved the use of their ancient vernacular tongue. 

Many monuments of architectural skill still remain, to prove that at one period the Mexicans had 
attained to a high degree of civilisation, and had made considerable progress in the cultivation of both 
useful and ornamental art. Many of their monuments, indeed, exhibit an elaborate skill and grace of 
design, only inferior to the similar works that distinguish Egyptian and Indian antiquity. Yet, what- 
ever may have been their advance in the arts of life, it is certain that the light which can come only 
from above was not vouchsafed to this people; for it has been clearly proved that they offered 

31 



466 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

human victims, and even their own children, to their imaginary deities. These revolting practices 
have now fallen into disuse ; but in other respects the spiritual and intellectual condition of the native 
Mexicans remains the same as at the period of the Spanish conquest. The mass of the people are 
characterised by apathetic indolence, by blind subjection to their superiors, and by extreme superstition, 
having merely exchanged their ancient idolatrous rites for the shows and mummeries of the Romish 
Church. 

The Mexicans, even at the brightest period of their history, seem not to have been possessed of 
the art of writing, unless a rude species of picture writing (consisting of figures of various animals, 
which are abundantly sculptured on their edifices), be worthy of that name. Alphabetical characters 
they had none ; but, since the Spanish conquest, the Roman letters and the Spanish system of ortho- 
graphy have been adopted in writing this language. Mexican, in fact, may now be called almost a 
literary language; for Clavijero informs us that, during the period of two hundred and seventy years, 
no fewer than forty-four authors compiled Mexican grammars and lexicons, and composed treatises in 
Mexican on the tenets of Christianity, some of which were committed to the press. These works 
afford abundant evidence in proof that Mexican possesses the same characteristic features as the other 
American languages, and that with respect to its internal structure it is closely allied to them. It is, 
however, distinguished from all the other idioms of its class by the possession of a special form, called 
the " reverential," which pervades the whole language, and is found in no other language of America. 
f " High-sounding titles (it has been observed), and certain special expressions of respect towards men in 
power, or superior classes, are found in every language; but this is believed to be the only one in 
which every word uttered by the inferior reminds him of his social position." This peculiarity of the 
language is certainly an evidence of the artificial state of society that existed in ancient Mexico, and of 
the subordination in which the mass of the people was held by the rulers. With respect to enunciation, 
Mexican is distinguished by the want of all the sounds represented by the letters b, d,f, r, and the 
Spanish j; and the letter g, if it ever occurs, is sounded like h. 

Notwithstanding the cruelty of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru, by whom, according 
to Robertson, 16,000,000 natives were sacrificed under Cortez and Pizarro, some feeble efforts were 
made by individuals of that nation to bestow on the surviving Mexicans a portion of the Word of God 
in their own language. Didacus de S. Maria, a Dominican friar and vicar of the province of Mexico 
(who died 1579), is said to have translated the Epistles and Gospels into Mexican; and Louis 
Rodriguez, a Franciscan friar, prepared a translation of the Proverbs and other fragments. These 
translations, however, do not appear to have been printed, and probably are not now extant. In 1829 
another translation of the New Testament was commenced by the efforts of Mr. Thomson, agent of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society. The Bishop of Puebla not only favoured the undertaking, but 
consented to superintend the work; and he appointed three persons (one of whom was professor of the 
Mexican language in the Ecclesiastical Seminary of Puebla, the other rector of a parish at some distance 
from Puebla, and the third a competent Mexican scholar), to execute the translation. Unhappily, the 
bishop died in 1830, and the only portion of Scripture that has hitherto been printed in Mexican 
consists of the Gospel of St. Luke. The translation was made about the year 1829, by Dr. Pazos 
Kanki, and a small edition of 250 copies was issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The 
political disturbances of which Mexico has during many past years been, and still is, the theatre, render 
further progress in these labours difficult. The present condition of the whole country, indeed, opposes 
insuperable obstacles to the extension of the agencies of peace, of any description. 



Class VIL] TERASCO. 467 

T O M I. 

SPECIMEK-THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

M'a Ta,ahe, ge gi'bqi y'a M'ahettzi : d'anhnoenm'anzw 'ani thuhu ; db'aeheg'ahe 'ani 
zunda 'Bqi : dr'aqha 'ani hnee, sind'angt« gua m'a Hm te'angM M'ahettzi. M'a hmeg'ahe 
tatt 'ne ya reqhe n'a rapaya : ha punngg'ahe m'a ndup'atehe, te'angwg'ahe dripunnb'ahe 
q m'a ndup'atehe ; ha 'yogihag'ahe g'atzohe qha n'a ttzocc^di m'an'ne poehoeg'ahe a 
hingiho. Dr'aqha, Hezu. 

The Otomi language is spoken in the states of Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Guanajuato, Tamaulipas, 
and part of Zacatecas, all of which form part of the federal republic of Mexico. About 200,000 
inhabitants of the state of Mexico are likewise said to speak this language as their vernacular tongue. 
The Otomi Indians, like the other natives of the Mexican republic, make an outward profession of 
Eoman Catholicism, but they are said to be the least civilised nation in this portion of the American 
continent. Even at the time of the Spanish conquest, when they were found intermixed with the 
Mexicans and the Tlascalans, their social position was inferior to that of the rest of their countrymen, — 
an inferiority which has been attributed by some to the peculiar mechanism of their language, by 
which, it is said, the developement of their intellectual faculties has been impeded. 

The Otomi language is remarkable for its monosyllabic structure, and for some curious though 
remote affinities apparently connecting it with the Chinese. Although we find words of two, and even 
three, syllables in its vocabulary, these have all been proved to be compounded words, of which each 
of the component syllables has a distinct meaning, and may be used as a separate word. The nouns 
and verbs have no inflection. The plural of nouns is distinguished by the use of the prefix ya, of 
which the singular form is na ; e. g. na ye, the hand, ya ye, the hands. In abstract nouns, expressing 
some quality of the mind, the prefix na is converted into sa. The verb, having no inflections of its 
own, is conjugated by the aid of about fourteen particles, by some authors regarded as pronouns. By 
means of these particles or pronouns, not only the persons and number, but even the variations of tense 
are indicated; and in this respect Otomi differs from all other American languages. It possesses, 
however, many grammatical features in common with them; and all the peculiarities which, at first 
sight, might seem to isolate it from the American group, may be clearly traced to the monosyllabic 
character of its structure. 

An attempt to procure a version of the Scriptures in this language was made by Mr. Thomson, 
agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, during the years 1828 and 1829, but no portion of the 
design appears to have been as yet accomplished. Further efforts have been impeded by the political 
condition of the Mexican republic. 



TEHASCO, MISTECO, AND ZAPOTECA. 

Several distinct languages are spoken in the republic of Mexico, of which the principal, next to the 
Mexican and Otomi, are the Terasco, the Misteco, and the Zapoteca. The Terasco is spoken princi- 
pally in the state of Mechoacan, which contains an area of 22,466 square miles, and a population of 
490,000. The principal characteristics of this language are, that the sounds corresponding toy and I 



468 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

are wanting, and that no word begins with b, d, g, i, or r. The nouns are divided into three species, 
rational, irrational, and inanimate, and are declined accordingly : the last two species are indeclinable 
in the singular. 

Zapoteca is the most general language in the state of Oajaca, among a population of 525,000. 
Eighteen other languages are spoken in that state; but, next to Spanish, Zapoteca appears to predomi- 
nate. It is also spoken in Tehuantepeque, and is said to be vernacular to many persons who, being 
ignorant of Spanish, are not able to converse in any other language. Mr. Thomson, agent of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society, endeavoured, with the sanction of that Society, to make arrange- 
ments with individuals skilled in the knowledge of the Zapoteca and Terasco languages, for the pre- 
paration of translations of the Scriptures into each of these languages. His efforts, however, ultimately 
proved abortive ; and the unsettled state of the country has prevented the renewal of similar attempts 
to obtain versions of holy writ in Terasco or Zapoteca. 

Two versions of the Gospels and of the Epistles are, however, said by Le Long to have been made 
in Misteco, a language likewise spoken in the state of Oajaca. The first version was made by Benedict 
Ferdinand, who nourished about A. D. 1568; and the second version by Arnold a Bosaccio. It is 
doubtful whether either of these versions are extant, and no modern translation into this language 
appears to have been effected. In fact, it is probable that, owing to the wide diffusion of the Spanish 
language in Mexico, and the establishment throughout the republic of schools in which Spanish is 
taught, the Spanish version will, with the progress of education, become increasingly available to all 
the natives of that vast territory, and supersede the necessity of publishing a separate version of the 
Scriptures in each of the numerous languages and dialects spoken by the inhabitants. 



MAYAN. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. LUKE, Chap. vi. v. 27 to 34. 

27 Hebac in ualicteex ca a unyiceex : Yacunteex a kah ualeex, mente^x utz ti le 
maxodb ca cu cibuoltic teex lodb. 28 Cici thanteex ti le maxodb cu lolob thanticeex iix 
okoltbaneneex tioklal le maxo6b cu likzicodb tuz a cuche; 29 Yix ti le maax cu loxic 
tech humpel ajpuc, kub xan le u lake Yix ti mac ii lukczictech le fresada, ma a uethic ti 
u bizic xan le a nokc ; 30 Da ti tulacalodb le maxodb bin u katoob tech : iix ti maac bin 
iiciia le baax lay u tiil ma a zut a kat ti ; 31 Yix le baax a Katiceex ca ii mentodb le 
uincodb ti teex lelo laili inenteex ti laoob ; 32 Yix a yacunticeex ti le maxodb cu ya- 
cunticeex baax nahalil bin yanac teex? tumenca le ah kebanodb xan cuya cunticodb ti 
le maxodb yacunah ti laoob. 33 Yix uabin amenteex utz ti le maxodb ca cu mentic 
teex utz ^baax bolil bin yanac tedx? tumenca tulacalodb le ah kebanodb xan cumenti- 
coob leitio; 34 Yix ua apayice^x ti letilcodb, timaxoob a pakcticeex a kamic, <jbaax 
bolil bin yanac teex, tumenca xan le ah kebanoob cu payicodb huntuloob ti ii lakodb 
utial u kamic ii lake bahun. 

Yucatan, a peninsula to the east of Mexico, projecting northward between the Gulf of Mexico and 
the Caribbean Sea, is chiefly occupied by the Maya or Yucatanese Indians. It forms one of the states 
of the Mexican confederation: its inhabitants have on more than one occasion within the last ten years 



Class VII.] MOSQUITO. 469 

asserted their independence, and declared Yucatan a sovereign state, but have subsequently rejoined 
the confederation. The population, which has been variously estimated at from 500,000 to 800,000, 
includes Europeans, Ladinos (the offspring of Europeans and Indians), Indians, and negroes; but 
the Indian race greatly predominates. The Mayan language is spoken by all classes throughout the 
peninsula. In its principal characteristics this language is conformed to the American type, but it is 
entirely devoid of the sounds represented by the letters d,f, g,j, q, 1; s, and v. 

The Indians to whom the Mayan language is vernacular are remarkable above other American 
nations for their boldness and their love of freedom. These qualities were manifested in a destructive 
war which they for some time carried on against the Ladinos and the white population, in whose hands 
the supreme authority was formerly lodged. Prior to the commencement of this war, the Maya Indians 
occupied themselves both in agriculture and fishing, and carried on a trade with many parts of the 
coast. Mr. Thomson, of the British and Foreign Bible Society, failed in his endeavours to obtain a 
translation of the Scriptures into the language of this people : but subsequent efforts of the Baptist Mis- 
sionary Society have been more successful ; and Mr. Kingdon, agent of that Society, executed a version 
of the Gospels and Acts, which was described several years since as in a state of preparation for the 
press. The utter hopelessness, however, of obtaining an entrance for the Gospel into Yucatan, while all 
classes of the inhabitants were engaged in a deadly struggle for supremacy, induced the Baptist Mis- 
sionary Society to desist for a time from completing this translation, and it does not appear that any 
further steps have been taken. 



MOSQUITO. 

SPECIMEN— THE LOED'S PEAYEE. 



Wan aize hebenra bara sa ; man nena yamne daukbia ; man kingtaim balbia. Man 
bila daukbia tasbara purara bako hebenra sin. Yung-nanira eua-bane wan eua tane ykma. 
Yung-nani saura-monre makaswisma yung nanira ; bamna upla-wala yung nanira trusdiman 
sin bako makaswisne. Temteshun belara sin wan madekparama; sekuna saura wina ai 
sakma. Amen. 

INTRODUCTION TO THE COMMANDMENTS, Exodus xx. 

God aisisata puk nalia aisisa. 2 Yung man Dawan God, Ejipt tasbaia urna mai 
bre-balatne alba tasba wina sin. 3 Yung kara yamne God, walwala briparama. 

The Mosquito shore lies between lat 16° 10' and 10° 45' N., and between long. 83° 15' and 86° "W. 
The western extremity is Cape Honduras, lat 16°, and the southern boundary is the San Juan or 
Nicaragua River. The Mosquito Indians, now very few in number, are the principal occupants of this 
territory, but many negroes and half-castes are also found within its limits. The Indians lead an 
unsettled, almost a nomadic life, having no permanent towns or villages, but shifting their settlements 
from place to place. The people dwelling along the coast from Blewfields northwards to Cape 
Gracias & Dios, and thence to Truxillo, form the most numerous portion of the inhabitants of this 
region. They live principally by fishing; but a little maize and some vegetables are cultivated by the 
women. The only arts practised by them are the making of canoes, bows, arrows, cotton turtle-lines, 
and turtle harpoons. They also manufacture waist-wrappers of bark fibre, cloaks, nets, and net-bags. 



470 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

Some of them occasionally visit the British settlements of Belize, and find employment in the mahogany 
works. Their coast is much frequented by British and American traders, for whom they collect 
sarsaparilla, tortoise-shell, green turtle, and deer-skins; receiving in exchange rum, knives, fire-arms, 
iron pots, beads, and other articles. 

In person the Mosquito Indians are tall and bony, and of an ashy black complexion. They are 
much addicted to polygamy and drunkenness, and are regarded as the most degraded nation of Central 
America. They have not in their language even a name for the Supreme Being : their religion chiefly 
consists in efforts to placate an evil spirit called the Wulasha, and a water spirit called Li-waia. 
Evidences of the want of natural affection, so common in all heathen tribes, are not wanting among 
this nation: a child born with a natural defect is put to death by its parents, and the aged and diseased 
are abandoned. The ancestors of the Mosquitos were never subjugated by the white settlers upon this 
portion of the American continent, and remained throughout independent of Spanish rule. Upon this 
fact has been based the Mosquito claim (much agitated within recent years) to rank as an independent 
nation, under a kind of protectorate exercised in their behalf by the British government. In truth, 
however, the great majority of the inhabitants of the Mosquito coast in the present day are not of 
Indian blood, but the mixed offspring of Indians and negroes; and the so-called king of the Mosquito 
nation is a mere tool in the hands of the few white residents within this swampy and pestilential region. 
The pure Indians, few in number, are chiefly found within the forests of the interior. 

The Mosquito Indians are divided into three tribes, the Waikna, Poyer, and Towkcas, the first of 
which is the most powerful. They all speak the same language, though with a few dialectic varieties. 
This language is devoid of harsh gutturals, and some of its etymological permutations appear to be 
conducted on the strictest principles of euphony. It has adopted many English and a few Spanish 
words. The cases of nouns are indicated by means of suffixed prepositions; and in the conjugation of 
verbs, the elements both of time and person are denoted by the various parts of the auxiliary verb 
Kaia. The various forms of this auxiliary are, however, not only appended as sufformatives to verbs, 
but also to adverbs and adjectives. The language was first reduced to writing and grammatical 
principles by the Rev. Alexander Henderson, of Belize, a Baptist missionary. He acquired his knowledge 
of the language through the medium of English and French traders who resided on the Mosquito 
shore, and occasionally visited Belize. His progress was necessarily slow and difficult; yet, having in 
view the translation of the Scriptures into Mosquito, he persevered through apparently insurmountable 
obstacles; and, after the labour of years, he succeeded in drawing up a grammar, which was privately 
printed, in New York, in 1846. He has likewise translated one of the Gospels; but it does not 
appear that any portion of the version has been committed to the press. 



PEEUYIAN, OH QUICHUA. 

QuiCHUA was the predominant language of Peru during the sovereignty of the ancient Incas. It 
still prevails on the plateau of the Andes, from Quito to Santiago del Estero, a distance of more than a 
thousand leagues; and it is so exclusively spoken in some districts, that in the war of independ- 
ence, the officers of armies were compelled to acquire some knowledge of this language, in order to 
instruct the soldiers in the military duties. According to D'Orbigny, the descendants of the Quichua 
subjects of the Incas now number about 934,000, while the race derived from intermarriages between 
the Quichua and Europeans number about 458,000 individuals. The Quichua language is employed 
by both classes. 

The character of the Quichua Indians has greatly deteriorated under the influence of Spanish 



Class VII.] AIMARA. 471 

domination. The remains of aqueducts, palaces, temples, and other monuments of art found in Peru, 
sufficiently attest that when, in 1532, that country fell a prey to Pizarro and his sanguinary followers, 
the inhabitants had made some advance in civilisation and. the arts of civilised life. Now, they are 
represented by Ulloa and other accurate observers as sunk into a state of semi-barbarism, indolence, 
and apathy, from which, it is said, they can rarely be roused, except when opportunities occur of 
indulging to excess in ardent spirits. Their habitations are miserable hovels, their dress is poor and 
mean, and their food coarse and scanty. Their religion consists in the superstitious observance of the 
rites and ceremonies of the Eoman Catholic Church, with which they commingle some remains of their 
ancient superstitions. The Romish clergy stationed among them are, generally speaking, very remis3 
in the discharge of their duty; and the Indians and priests are often seen driving " hard bargains" in 
relation to first-fruits and other dues claimed by the State for the Church, 

Being thus destitute of the means of true spiritual instruction, a version of the Scriptures in their 
vernacular language is more especially needful to this degraded people. The preparation of such a 
version was contemplated by Professor Vater, of Konigsberg, in 1817; but no attention seems to have 
been paid to his proposal of undertaking it. In 1823 Mr. Thomson, agent of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, employed a native Peruvian to commence a translation of the Gospels. The work 
proceeded under the sanction of the Society; and in 1825 a version of the entire New Testament was 
completed. Five persons, of whom one was a clergyman and another a theological tutor, accurately 
revised and corrected the manuscript. In 1830 Dr. Pazos Kanki, who had been professor of the 
Peruvian language in the University of Cuzco, offered his services to the British and Foreign Bible 
Society to translate the Psalms; but no further steps appear to have been taken towards bestowing 
upon Peru any portion of the Quichua Scriptures: and even the version of the New Testament, though 
completed so many years ago, has not yet been committed to the press. This lamentable circumstance 
is to be attributed to the still unsettled state of the country, and to the many political vicissitudes to 
which the ancient empire of the Incas has been subjected. 



AIMAEA. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. LUKE, Chap. vi. v. 27 to 36. 
27 Humanacaeo hisma, hisapapjeta: Asqui lurapjama, fianca luririnacamaro. 

28 Asqui arusipjama, fianca arusirinacamata ; Diosaro catuyapjama nankachiinacama. 

29 Quititeja haganuma tagllepgatama, mayaja ufiachayama ; mantama apaquerero, 
allmillama churama. 30 Mayisinirinacaro taquecuna chiirama ; humanquiri caturiru, 
hani mayacute mayapgamte. 31 Cunteja humanacataqui munapgta; ucaraqui haque 
masimataqui mcmapjama. 32 Huma munirinaca munaspaja, haniwa mericimiento 
lurapgtati; huchgtanirinacaja hupanaca pura munasipgegua. 83 Hasqui luririma mu- 
naspaga, ^cuna meritosa lurapjata? hucamawa lurapje huchgtirinacaja. 34 Mantayaspa, 
hani cunsa suyapgatati; huchgtirinacaja maytasipjaraquiga hupanacapura censo cato- 
kafiataqui. 3o Munapjama hancachirinacama ; maytapgama, hani cunsa suyaspa, ucapa- 
chawa hacha premio catucapjata; taque Atipirin guagua kankahapamatqui. 36 Mise- 
ricordiosopgama, camisa Auquimasa misericordioso hucama. 

The Aimara Indians were among the nations formerly subject to the Incas of Peru; they now dwell 
on the plateau of Titicaca, within the limits of that ancient empire. The individuals of pure Aimara 



472 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

descent number, according to D'Orbigny, about 372,000, and tbe offspring of Aimara and European 
intermarriages amount to 188,000. The Aimara are probably descended from the same stock as the 
Quichua Indians, whom they resemble in disposition, in manners, and in customs. The languages of 
the two nations also bear a close affinity to each other; and it is said that about one-twentieth of the 
words of Aimara, more especially such as relate to religious ideas, are derived from the same roots as 
the corresponding terms in Quichua. 

A work, containing the history of the life of Christ, was written in the Aimara language by a 
Jesuit, named Ludovico Bertonio, as early as the year 1612. Nearly the whole New Testament was 
translated from the Vulgate into Aimara, in 1827, by Dr. Pazos Kanki, a learned Spanish gentleman 
of South America. This work was conducted under the superintendence of Mr. Thomson, and with 
the sanction of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The translation was highly approved by com- 
petent judges, and was found, on trial, to be very readily understood by all the Indians speaking the 
Aimara language. An edition of 1100 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke, with the Spanish version in 
parallel columns, was therefore issued, as an experiment, in 1829, by the Society. We do not hear of 
any further editions of any portion of the Scriptures being provided for this people. 



GUAEANI, AND BRAZILIAN. 

The Guarani language is vernacular to the most widely spread and the most numerous people of South 
America. At the period of the discovery of that continent, tribes of the Guarani race occupied the 
whole extent of territory which subsequently fell under the dominion of the Portuguese. The number 
of the Guarani has not been accurately ascertained : they are still found in Brazil, and in Paraguay, 
and are in a state of semi-barbarism. A great improvement was supposed to have been wrought 
in their mental and physical condition by the Jesuits, who laboured among them in Paraguay; 
but on the suppression of that order, and the consequent withdrawal of the Jesuits from America in 
1768, the Guarani returned to the habits of savage life. Some years ago Mr. Armstrong, of Buenos 
Ayres, entered into a communication with the British and Foreign Bible Society respecting a trans- 
lation of the Scriptures into Guarani, which he stated he had then the prospect of obtaining. The 
negotiation does not, however, appear to have terminated satisfactorily, as the Guarani have not yet 
obtained an edition of any part of the Scriptures in their vernacular language. 

A version of the entire Bible in the eastern dialect of the Guarani was, however, executed by an 
English minister, who accompanied the Dutch to Recife, when they took it from the Portuguese, in 
the early half of the seventeenth century. But this version was of little use to the people for whom 
it was designed, for it was never committed to the press, and it is not now supposed to be extant. 
It is popularly known as the Brazilian version, because written in the dialect spoken in the Brazils by 
the Tupi, a race nearly allied to, if not identical with, the Guarani. 



Class VII.] KARIF. 473 



KAHIF, OR CARIB. 

SPECIMEN, FEOM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. 

A larljung guluna mutiu laibugate luagu wubu; ticlang ligiabuga iururute, lanegu 
dissiplu haiaburete lumau: 2 A liuma ladararate, a larujadajate haune mutu, lubale. 
3 Gudangtiu guderaetiu, ledang iwane : tubara lagumadeja ubeju humegane. 4 Gu- 
dangtiu amuiserutiu : tubara hiuraguba. 5 Gudangtiu iulutiu : tubara kanebaia ubau. 

6 Gudangtiu lamatiu a magarabutiu larige iiwarugugudate : tubara habuingcubate. 

7 Gudangtiu gudemejebutiu : tubara hebijubale gudemejebu. 8 Gudangtiu harumatiu 
ledang anige: tubara Bongdiu harijubale. 9 Gudangtiu erereguagudaiajatiu : tubara 
hagiaba kerete erajuniu. Bongdiu lane. 10 Gudangtiu ablesetiu luaugie iiwarugugudate : 
tubara lagumadeja ubeju hane. u Gudangtiuia tidang ledejauba hune habugabadeuia, 
a habaleba sung lu.wu.iare uribane huagu marasuau., 12 Adiga-humai-buidu, gudanghu- 
madea kibetiu: tubara ledang ubeju haufaieruaja wairete : tubara itaka habuieserunia 
frofetagu edatebugingia hubaragia. 

' The Karif language is spoken by a black and woolly-haired race, whose small settlements are scattered 
along the shores of the Bay of Honduras, the Mosquito shore, and even along the northern coast of 
South America, as far as the mouths of the Orinoco. This people differ in personal appearance and in 
intellectual constitution from all the neighbouring tribes: they are athletic and well proportioned, 
active and energetic, adroit and intelligent, cheerful and highly excitable. They are descended from 
the brave and warlike aborigines of the Caribbean Islands, and are hence known to Europeans by the 
name of Karifs or Caribs. They retain all their ancient customs and manners, among which is the 
practice of polygamy; but they never appear to have possessed any definite system of religion: Roman 
Catholicism has been partially adopted in some of their settlements, but none of the Caribs are under 
its dominion. All legislative power is vested in the hands of certain elders, called captains, elected by 
the people. The Carib women perform the labours of agriculture, the men occupying themselves 
exclusively in fishing, hunting, and smoking. 

Some Wesleyan missionaries have, during the last quarter of a century, preached the Gospel to this 
people; but their efforts have been attended with few, if any, results. This want of success has been 
partly attributed to their adopting the English language as the medium of communication with the 
people, — a language unknown to the Caribs in general, with the exception of those who may have 
acquired a smattering of Spanish and English for purposes of traffic. The Rev. Mr. Henderson, of 
Belize, a Baptist missionary, is the first and only individual who has attempted to give this people the 
Word of God in their own vernacular language. Considerable difficulties beset his path when lie first 
entered upon the undertaking. Karif was then an unwritten language, so that no aid could be derived 
from books: he therefore endeavoured to glean instruction in the language from every Carib within 
his reach ; but the impatience evidenced by these people under his manifold questionings greatly 
impeded his progress. Yet he was not discouraged, for, as he afterwards stated, these words were 
forcibly impressed on his mind: — "Be strong and of good courage, and do it; fear not, nor be 
dismayed." At length, a Carib, who had hired himself as servant to a gentleman at Belize, was con- 
verted to Christianity, through the instrumentality of Mr. Henderson's preaching, and became willing, 
and even anxious, to assist in the preparation of a version of the Scriptures for the spiritual enlighten- 
ment of his countrymen. He instructed Mr. Henderson in the language of his nation; and after the 



474 AMERICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VII. 

labour of years in reducing the language to rule, and in translating, correcting, and revising, a version 
of the Gospel of St. Matthew was completed. In 1847 Mr. Henderson visited England and Scotland, 
during which period he again revised and transcribed this Gospel. The church at Edinburgh under 
the pastoral care of Mr. Christopher Anderson undertook the expense of publishing the work, and a 
small edition was printed. No account has yet been received concerning the result of the distribution 
of this edition among the Caribs. 

The Lord's Prayer, Creed, etc., have been recently translated into the Carib language by the Eev. 
Mr. Brett (the able translator of the Arawack Scriptures), and have at his request been printed on thick 
paper, for use among the native Indians of this race. 



AEAfACK. 

SPECIMEN, EEOM St. MATTHEW, Chap, xxvii. v. 62 to 66„ 
[Philadelphia, 1799.] 

Abba gassaggabbuhu gia adiggi, Saterdaga, Nassondagan gewai, ma-utia, naggunna 
Gouverneur, Pilatus, ibiti, namagoa adaijahiinnu, ipilti Priestinu ge, Pharisaeunu ku, 
hurrugi ren, nadiaga lumiin: Adaijahiili! agguburugguadoa goa wa heika bunali gaggii 
goa lanika hiddia man ammullida hiddinn lugguhu : — ballipa dahudun, daggunnegupa 
ba biamahu adiggi — Ian — na Jesus ujaluggu. Gia banna bawabaddi giddinn, ikkidda, 
guddun Soldaruna umun lihittiattina, biama wulligahii re"n lissama, luraallikudassiannu 
uria, nandi hinna ma gassagguda diarru, gattigebessiaen lipirru, ikka ammullidin lug- 
gunnu — laggunnegoa ahudahti luggu waria — mann. Waggilli, gaggu goa lanika, adi 
hinna ma ikka luggunnu amassigandannua waeme — mo rubu na. Pilatus — dappai — 
hanuwate Soldaruna, haggunnate nabbu, howabaddi gidda ikidda guddun namim lihit- 
tiattina, hoaja ussann haddittinn ullukkudi — mann namiin. 

Naggunna gia hanna, nawaja, bitti ibiti, lissa huwabu naddukudcla Soldarunu 
umun, ikidda guddun lihittiattina, aibdn tamuni je, nipitta badja siba, hitti ulleruggu 
mun gurru. garda nipiddin din. 

The people to whom this language is vernacular inhabit the sea-shores and the banks of rivers in 
British Guiana, in Surinam or Dutch Guiana, and in the province of Venezuela. The number of 
Arawack Indians, located within the British territory alone, has been computed at about 2000 ; but they 
have of late years been greatly reduced in number, from the consequences of indulging to excess in 
ardent spirits. These Indians are divided into thirty tribes, and do not appear to live under any regular 
or organised system of government. Their ideas on religious subjects are but feebly developed. They 
believe in a Supreme Being, eternal, immortal, and invisible ; but they consider that he is too exalted 
to interest himself in the affairs of man, and therefore they address their supplications to inferior deities. 
Sorcerers have great influence in this as in other Indian nations, and profess by their magical incan- 
tations to rule the spirits by whom the world is supposed to be governed. The great majority of the 
Arawack Indians are now, however, brought under Christian instruction, and some hundreds have 
been baptized. The influence of the Gospel has been manifested in ameliorating the condition of the 
females, who were formerly subjected to the most cruel toil and bondage. 



Class VII.] ARAWACK. 475 

The Arawack language, though participating in the general characteristics of the American type, 
differs in so many respects from the dialects of the neighbouring tribes that it is supposed to have been 
originally spoken at some distance from the region in which it is now predominant. The traditions 
of the natives point to Hayti, and the larger islands of the West Indian Seas, as the former country 
of the Arawack Indians. The aborigines of those islands were expelled or exterminated by the 
European colonists; but the few words of their language that have been preserved bear a striking 
resemblance to the corresponding terms in modern Arawack; in fact, the words are, in some instances, 
identical. 

In 1823 a version of the entire New Testament, except the book of Revelation, existed in 
Arawack. This version had been executed by Mr. Schuman, a missionary well skilled in the Arawack 
language, who, during the years 1748 to 1760, resided among the Arawack Indians far up at the 
Berbice Eiver. This work has never been printed ; but the MS. was corrected by Mr. Schultz, 
missionary at Corentyn, who also revised a harmony of the Gospels, drawn up in the Arawack 
language by Mr. Schuman. The first book printed in Arawack was the history of the Passion Week, 
translated by Mr. Fischer, missionary among the Arawacks between the years 1789 and 1798: a small 
edition was printed at Philadelphia, and the copies were distributed among the Indians. Subsequently, 
the Gospels and Acts, together with a considerable portion of the book of Genesis, have been printed 
in London, by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, from a version made i>y the Eev. 
W. H. Brett, who had been during many years engaged in missionary labours in British Guiana, and 
whose long and familiar intercourse with the Arawack Indians, and his intimate acquaintance with 
their language, qualified him in a more than ordinary degree for the task. The portions of Mr. Brett's 
version that were first printed were the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, issued by the Society in 
1850. Some delay occurred in the production of the two remaining Gospels, owing to objections 
which had been made to the fidelity of Mr. Brett's translation, but which proved on investigation to be 
entirely groundless. The printing was therefore resumed, and the whole was completed in 1856. Some 
large wood-cuts, selected from the Society's Family Bible, add to the utility of this version of the 
Arawack Scriptures, designed as it is for the use of a semi-barbarous people, who, like children, exhibit 
peculiar aptitude for receiving such instruction as can be conveyed through the medium of the eye. 
Good results are already apparent from Mr. Brett's labours. " I have just returned (he writes from 
Essequibo, in 1857, to the Committee of the Society) from the Indian missions, where the Arawacks 
are now busily engaged upon that portion of the Scriptures in their own tongue for which they stand 
so much indebted to your bounty. I am happy to say, that there is every reason to believe that much 
spiritual good will be effected thereby. In our remote mission at Waramuri, the bishop and myself 
were much struck by the manner of some of our catechumens, and the breathless silence with which 
they listened to the account of the fall of man, and the sentence pronounced on him by the Almighty." 
A translation of the Acts into Arawack has been issued by the American Bible Society (1851), from 
a MS. in their possession, but concerning which we have no further information. 




nOAAAI MEN 6NHTOI2 rAHTTAI, MIA A'A@ANATOl2lN. 
MULT2E TERRICOLIS LINGUA, CCELESTIBUS UNA. 

nriK wbwi pas nnit? 1 ? nm 



THE 



CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES 



Kote. — The asterisks denote the Languages into which translations of the Scriptures have either been made or attempted. 



CLASS I. 

MONOSYLLABIC. 



CHINESE, 1. 

Kou-ouen or Ancient Chinese 
Ouen-tschang or Modern Chi- 
nese (written language) 
Kuan-Hoa (language of the 

Mandarins) 
Khum (language of the Court 

at Pelcin) 
Hiang-Yan (language of the 

people) 
Kiang-nan (dialect of Nanlcin) 
Fokien (dialect ofFeleien) 
Kong (dialect of Canton) 

Peculiar Languages spoken in 
China. 
Sifan 
Miaos 
Lolos 
Mien-Ting 
Island of Hainan Dialect 

INDO-CHINESE BRANCH. 

* Burmese, 7 

* Arakanese or Rukheng, 10 

* Siamese or Thay, 12 
Laos or Law, 14 
Shyan, 14 
Khamti, 14 
Ahom, 115 
Anamite, 15 
Cambojan, 15 

* Peguese, Talain, or Mon, 11 

* Karen, 15 
*Munipoora, 16 

Cacharese 
•Khassee, 17 

Rude and Unwritten 

Languages. 
Moitai 

Khyen or Kolun 
Ka-kyen 
Zabaing 
Lolos 
Quanto 
Tshampa 
Silong 

Kuki or Koonkie 
Khumia 
Kyo 
Singpho 
Mishimi 
Jili 

Bor Abors 
Abors 
Miri 
Dufla 
Aka 
Muttuck 
Garo 
Bodo 



TIBETAN BRANCH. 
* Tibetan or Bhotiy'ah, 20 
•Lepcha, 21 

Uniya 

Newari 



CLASS II. 

SHEMITIC. 

HEBREW BRANCH. 

* Hebrew, 22 
Phoenician, 32 
Punic, 22 

* Samaritan, 35 

SYRIAC BRANCH. 

* Syriac, 41 

* Chaldee, 39 

* Syro-Chaldaic, 45 

* Modern Syriac, 45 

MEDIAN BRANCH. 
Pehlvi, 65 

HIMYARITIC BRANCH. 
Himyaritic 
Ekhkili 

ARABIC BRANCH. 

Arabic (ancient, now extinct) 
•Arabic (of the Koran), 48 
*Carshun (Arabic in Syriac let- 
ters), 56 
Judeo- Arabic, 52 
Modern or Vulgar Arabic, com- 
prising 
* Mogrebin or African Arabic, 55 
Dialect of Yemen 
Dialect of Mecca 
Dialect of Syria, etc. 
Maltese, 53 

ABYSSINIAN BRANCH. 

* Gheez or Ethiopic, 57 

* Tigre\ GO 

* Amharic, 61 
Amharic Dialects, viz. 

Semian 
Arkiko 
Narea 
Dembea 



CLASS III. 

INDO-EUROPEAN. 

fHrtJian, or Nottf)em St™, 

Including Medo-Persian and Teutonic 
Branches. 
MEDO-PERSIAN BRANCH. 
Zend, 65 

Parsi or Ancient Persian, 05 
Deri or Dialect of the Court, 65 

* Persic or Modern Persian, 64 

* Pushtoo or Affghan, 72 



MEDO-PERSIAN BRANCH | 
(continued). 

* Belochee, 74 

* Kurdish, 82 

* Ossitinian, 84 

* Ancient Armenian, 75 

* Modern Armenian, 75 

* Ararat Armenian, 75 

TEUTONIC BRANCH. 
Germanic Languages. 

* Gothic, 174 

*Alemannic or Old High Ger- 
man, 178 
Middle High German, 179 
Francic, 179 

* German, 181 
Low German, 185 
Germanic Dialects, viz. 

Swiss 

Rhenish 

Danubian 

Franconian 

Rothwelsh 

Judeo-German, 186 

* Ancient Low Saxon, 189 

* Anglo-Saxon, 191 
Northumbrian Dialect, 195 

* English, 196 
Saxon Dialects, viz. 

Saxon of Lower Saxony 
Prussian or East Saxon 
Westphalian or West Saxon 
Frisic 
•Dutch, 208 

* Flemish, 205 

Scandinavian Languages. 
Moeso-Gothic, 175 
Ancient Norwegian Languages, 
viz. 
•Icelandic, 214 
Norwegian 

Dalska or "West Dalecarlian 
Jamtlandish 
Norse, 214 

* Swedish, 222 

•Danish, including Dialects of 
Norway, 217 
Scania 
Jutland 
Creolese, 211 
NegroDialectofSurinam,212 

* Faroese, 22G 



Enoian, or (Eastern Stan, 

Including the Sanscrit, Greco-Latin, 

Sclavonic, and perhaps the Celtic 

Branches. 

SANSCRIT BRANCH. 
• Sanscrit, 86 
•Pali, 91 
Pali Dialects, viz. 
•Magadha, 114 



SANSCRIT BRANCH 
(continued). 
Bali 
Fan 
Kawi 
Pracrit 

* Hindustani or Urdu, 94 
•Hinduwee, 100 

Hinduwee Dialects, viz. 
*Bruj or Brij-bhasa, 103 

* Canoj or Canyacubja, 104 

* Kousulu or Koshala, 104 
•Bhojepoora, 104 

* Hurriana, 105 
•Bundelcundee, 105 
*BugheIcundee, 105 

Central India Dialects, viz. 
•Oojein or Oujjuyunee, 107 
Rajpootana 
Malwa 

* Harrotee, 10o 
•Oodeypoora or Mewar, 107 
•Marwar or Joudpoora, 107 

* Juyapoora, 108 

* Shekawutty, 108 
•Bikaneera, 108 
•Buttaneer, 108 

* Bengalee, 109 

» Tirhitiya or Mithili, 114 
•Assamese, 115 

* Uriya or Orissa, 1 16 
•Cutchee, 117 
•Sindhee, 117 

•Moultan, Wuch, or Ooch, 118 
•Punjabeeor Sikh, 118 
•Punjabee Mountain Dialect or 

Dogura, 120 
•Cashmerian, 120 
Caufristan 
Brahooee 
•Nepalese or Khaspoora, 121 
Nepalese Dialects, viz. 
•Parbutti, 122 
Newar 
Murmi 
Kurrautee 
Limboo 
Mungar 
Gurung 
•Palpa, 122 
•Gurwhal or Schreenagur, 123 
•Kumaon, 123 

* Gujerattee, 123 
•Mahratta, 126 
•Kunkuna, 129 
•Rommany or Gipsy, 130 

* Cingalese, 141 
•Maldivian, 150 

Languages or the Deccan. 
Probably not of Sanscrit origiiu 
•Tamul, 133 
•Telinga, 138 
•Karnata, 141 

* Tulu or Tuluvu, 144 
Coduga 

•Malayalim, 145 



CLASSIFICATION OP LANGUAGES. 



SANSCRIT BEANCH 
(continued). 
Rude and Uncultivated Lan- 
guages of India. 
Touppali 
Tuda 
Choomeas 
Cattywar 
Gond 

Cateesghur 
Wadasse 
Chingalaya, in Ceylon 

GRECO-LATIN BRANCH. 

Tkraco-Illyrian Languages, viz. 
Phrygian 
Trojan 
Thracian 
Illyrian 

* Albanian or Arnaut, 289 
Etruscan 

Pelasgo- Hellenic Languages, 
viz. 
Pelasgic 

* Greek, 227 

* Romaic or Modern Greek, 24 1 
Italic Languages, viz. 

Sabine 
Samnite, etc. 

* Latin, 245 
Romance Languages, viz 

* Catalan, 265 
Talencian, 2C6 
Majorcan 

* Dialect of Toulouse, 283 
Languedocian 

" Provencal or Romaunt, 281 
Dauphinois 
Lyonnais 
Auvergnat 
Limousin 
Gascon 

* Vaudois, 284 

* Piedmontese, 286 
*Romanese or Upper and 

Lower Enghadine, 287 
Valaisan 
Savoisian 

* rtalian, 277 

* French, 254 

*Normandian Dialect, 259 

* Burgundian, 2G0 

* Spanish, 261 

* Judeo-Spanish, 267 

* Curagoa, 270 
♦Portuguese, 271 

* Indo- Portuguese, 275 
*Daco-RomanaorWallachian,279 

SCLAVONIC BEANCH. 

Russo-Illyrian Languages, viz. 
•Ancient Sclavonic, 291 

* Russ or Russian, 298 

* Servian, 302 

•Croatian, or Dalmatian- 
Servian, 304 

* Bosnian, 306 

* Bulgarian, 307 

Dialects of the Winde Lan- 
guage, viz. 
*Carniolan, 305 
Slovakian, 306 
Carinthian 
Styrian 
Bohemo-Polish Languages, viz. 

* Bohemian or Chekhe, 300 

* Polish, 298 
•Judeo- Polish, 188 

Upper Lusatian, 308 
Lower Lusatian, 308 



SCLAVONIC BRANCH 
(continued). 
Wendo-Lithuanian Languages 
viz. 
Prucze or Ancient Prussian 
•Lithuanian, 312 
•Samogitian, 313 
Kriwitsh 
Prusso-Lithuanian. 

* Lettish or Lette, 310 
Semgallian 
Letto-Livonian or Lief- 

landish 
Seelian 

* Upper Wendish, 308 
•Lower Wendish, 308 

* Hungarian Wendish, 310 

CELTIC BEANCH. 
Gaelic Languages, viz. 
•Irish, 160 
Munster Dialect, 161 

* Scotch 
Hebridian 

•Manks, 166 
Cymric Languages, viz. 
Celto-Belgic 
•Welsh, 151 
•Cornish, 1C9 

* Breton or Armorican, 170 
Dialect of Leon or Finisterre, 173 
Dialect of Treguier, 173 



CLASS IV. 

UGEO-TAETAEIAN. 



CHUDIC, or FINNISH 
BRANCH. 
Finnish or Germanised Finnish 
Languages, viz. 
•Finnish or Finlandish, 319 

Tawastian 
*Carelian or Kyriala, 328 

* Olonetzian, 328 
Watailaiset 

•Dorpat Esthonian, 329 

* Reval Esthonian, 329 

* Lapponese, 322 

* Quanian or Norwegian 

Lapponese, 324 
Wolgaic Languages, viz. 

* Tscheremissian, 331 
•Mordvinian, 331 
•Zirian or Sirenian, 332 

Permian Languages, viz. 
Permian Proper 
•Wotagian or Wotjakian, 333 
Hungarian Languages, viz. 

* Hungarian or Magyar, 325 
•Wogulian, 332 

* Ostiacan or Ostjakian, 332 

Finnish Languages of uncertain 
oeigin. 
Hunniac 
Chazar 

EUSKARIAN BRANCH. 

* French Basque, 314 
Dialect of Lower Navarre, 316 

•Spanish Basque or Escuara, 318 

TUNGUSIAN BRANCH. 

• Mantchou, 334 

• Tungusian Proper, 336 

MONGOLIAN BRANCH. 

* Mongolian Proper, 337 



MONGOLIAN BRANCH 

(continued.) 

* Calmuc, 338 

* Buriat, 339 

TURKISH BRANCH. 

* Turkish, 341 
Turco-Greek, 345. 
Turkish-Armenian, 346 

•Karass or Turkish Tartar, 347 

* Orenburg Tartar, 349 

* Crimean Tartar, 350 

* Trans-Caucasian Tartar, 352 
•Tschuwaschian, 351 

Yakut, in M. Siberia 

CAUCASIAN BRANCH. 
Georgian Languages, viz. 

* Ancient Georgian, 353 

* Modern Georgian, 353 
Mingrelian 
Imeritian 

Suanic 

Lazian 
Lesghian 
Aware 

Kaski-Kumuk 
Mizjeghi Languages, viz. 

Mizjeghi 

Inguschi 

Tschetsohenghi 
Circassian 
Abasian 

HYPERBOREAN BRANCH. 
Samoiede Languages, viz. 
•Khassowa or Samoiede 
Proper, 355 

Touroukhansk 

Tawghi 

Tas 

Narym 

Laak 

Karassi 

Ouriangkhai 
Jenissei Languages, viz. 

Denka 

Imbazk 

Yukaghiri 
Koriak Languages, viz. 

Koriak Proper 

Koriak of Kamtschatka 

Karaga 
Kamtschatka Languages, viz. 

Tigil 

Middle Kamtschatka 

South Kamtschatka 

Oukah 
Kurilian Languages, viz. 

Kurilian Proper 

Jesso 

Tarakai 

Asiatic East Insular Lan- 
guages. 
•Japanese, 356 

* Loochooan, 357 

* Aleutian, 358 

* Corean, 359 



CLASS V. 

POLYNESIAN, 

OE 

MALAYAN. 

IND0-MALAYAN BRANCH. 

* Malay, 360 

* Formosan, 368 



IND0-MALAYAN BRANCH 

(continued.) 
Sumatran Dialects, viz. 

* Batta, 373 
Lampong 
Rejang 
Korinchi 
Achinese 

Javanese Dialects, viz. 

* Javanese, 369 
Sunda 
Basi-Krama 

Madurese 
Balinese 

Sasak or Lambok 
Sembawa 
•Bima, 372 
Ende or Floris 
Mangerei 
Timorian Dialects, viz. 

Timor 

Manatoto 

Coupang 

Rotti 

Sava 

Bebber 
Poggy or Pagai Island Dialect 
Nias 
Celebes Dialects, viz. 

* Bugis, 374 

* Macassar, 374 
Mandhar 
Gunung-teli 
Menadu 
Turajas 

Dialect of Buton Island 

Dialect of Sangir Island 
Moluccas Dialects, viz. 

Sirang or Ceram 

Saparua 

Ternati 

Tidore 
Philippine Dialects, viz. 

Tagala 

Mindanao 

Bisayan 

Maitim 

Inagta 

Pampanga 

Pangasinan 

Zambules 

Ygorotes 

Ylocos 

Cayagan 

Batanga 
Tagala of the Ladrones 
Dialect of Caroline Islands 

* Malagasse, 386 
Borneo Dialects, viz. 

•Dajak, 371 
Biajuk 
Murung 
Kupuas 
Sooloo 
Tidong 

FURTHER POLYNESIAN 

BRANCH. 
•New Zealand or Maori, 383 

* Samoan, 388 

* Tahitian, 376 

* Rarotongan, 378 

* Hawaiian, 375 

* Marquesan, 380 

* Tonga, 381 

Dialect of Pelew Islands 
Dialect of Easter Island 

* Feejeean, 390 
•Aneiteum, 392 



CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES. 



FUBTHEB POLYNESIAN 
BEANCH (.continued). 
Negritos Languages, viz. 

Samang-i interior ofMalay- 
Jajong i an Peninsula. 
Penang, interior of the Phi- 
lippine Islands. 
Andaman and Nicobar Dialects. 
little hnonm, viz. 
Tembora 
Ende or Floris 
Mangerei 

Dialect of New Guinea 
Dialect of New Britain 
Dialect of New Ireland 
Dialect of Louisiade 
Dialect of Solomon's Island 
Taomaco 

Tamman, interior of Borneo 
Lifu and Nengone, 39-1 
Australian Dialects, viz 
* New Soutb Wales 
Swan Biver, etc. 






CLASS VI. 

AFRICAN. 

EGYPTIAN BEANCH. 

* Coptic, 397 
*Sahidic, 401 
*Bashmuric, 402 

LIBYAN BEANCH. 
Guanche 

* Berber or Amazigh, 403 

* Ghadamsi, 405 
Tuarick 

Siwah or Ertana 
Tibboo 

Kabyle or Showiah 
Sergoo 

BEEBEEIN or NUBIAN 
BEANCH. 
Kenuz 

Noub 
Dongola 
Kensy 
Wady Nuba 
Eoutana 
Noby 
Minutoli 
Jebel Nuba 

Languages allied to the Nubian, 
Shilluck 
Denka 
Takeli 
Tumali 
Shaboon 
Fertit 
Koldagi 
Darfoor 

Fazoglo Languages. 
Qamamyl 
Fazoglo 

BEDJAS BEANCH. 
Bisharye 
Suaken 
Ababde 

MANDINGO BEANCH. 
*Woloffor Jalloof, 407 
Bambook 
Medina 
Bambarra 



MANDINGO BEANCH. 

(continued.) 
Sokko or Asokko 

* Susoo, 408 

* Bullom, 409 

* Sberbro-Bullom, 410 
*Timmanee, 413 

Kissi 
Kossa 
Pessa 
Garangi 
Kong 
Callana 
Fobee 

Garman or Buntakoo 
Languages of the Grain Coast, 
viz. 

Kru 
*Bassa, 414 

Kruman 

Fishman 
*Grebo, 414 
Languages of the Gold Coast, 
viz. 

Inta 
* Accra, 415 

Akvanibij 

Adampi or Tambi 
*Fantee, 416 
*Ashayitee, 417 

Booroom 

Aowin 

Amanahea 

Ahanta 

Affootoo 

Tjemba or Kassenti 
Dahomey Languages, viz. 

Adah 

Yudah 

"Watye 

Atye 

Wawu 

Popo 

Fot 

Kerrapay or Crepee 

Badaggry 

Dahwhumba 

Mosee 

Inwa 

Kumsallahoo 

Ardrab. 
"Warree Languages, viz. 

Akuongo 

Uhobo 

DISTINCT and PECULIAB 
LANGUAGES of WESTEEN 
NIGEITIA. 

Benin or Eboe 

Jloko 

Ibu 

Nyffe, Nufi, or Tapua 

Bonny 

Old Calabar 

Karaba 

Honin 

Bimbia 

* Cameroons or Dewalla, 418 

* Ediyah or Fernandian, 420 
Kanga 

Mangree 

Gien 

Akkim 

Akrupon 

Kouri 

Tembu 

Appa 

Akuongo 

Camansons 



DISTINCT and PECULIAE 
LANGUAGES of WESTEEN 
NIGEITIA (continued). 
* Yebu, Ako, Eyo, Hio, Inogo, or 
Yarriba, 41 
Serrawolli 
Serreres 
Feloop 
Papel 
Bal antes 
Bagnon 
Bissagot 
Naloo 
Sapi 
Mendi 
Vei 

Biafares 
Basares 
Naloubes 



Quojas 
Folgias 
Kroos 
Quaquas 
Buntakoo 
Kalam-Soudan 
Bagermeh 
Fourian 
*Isubu, 419 
Gaboon Languages, viz. 
*Mpongwe or Pouga, 421 

Sheekan 

Kaylee 

Oongoomo 

Oongabai 

Rungo 

Bongo 
Begharmi 
Bergoo or Mobha 
Bornu Languages, viz. 

Bornu Proper 

Affadeh 

Maihai 
Howssa Languages, viz. 

Mandara 
* Howssa or Haussa, 412 

Kashna 

Guber 

Mallowa 

Quolla-liffa 

Kallaghee 
Timbuctoo Languages, viz. 

Sungai or Suaing 

Timbuctoo 

Kissour 

Sangsangdi 

FULAH BEANCH. 

Fulah of Foota-torro 

Fulah of Foota-jallo 

Fulah of Massina 

Fulah of Borgoo 

Fulah or Fellatah of Sackatoo 

CAFFEAEIAN or NILO- 
HAMITIC STOCK. 

Languages spoken in Loango, Congo, 
Angola, and Benguela. 
Angola, Bunda, or Abunda 
Mandongo 
Camba 
Malemba 
Emboma 
Ambriz 
Sonho 

Mogialoua or Molua 
Masanja 
Mina 
Cassanga 



CAFFEAEIAN or NIL0- 
HAMITIC STOCK (continued). 
Languages of Caffkaeia. 

* Kaffir or Caffre, 426 
Cosoa 

*Sechuana, 423 

* Sitlapi, 424 

* Sisuta, 425 
*Dammara 

Tambuck; Kaffir 

* Zulu, 429 

Languages of the Mozambique and 
Zanzibar Coasts. 
*Kisuaheli, 434 

* Kikamba, 435 

* Kinika, 435 
Makua 
Monjou 
Dos Santos 
Tzchoambo 
Matibani 
Manica 
Quilimani 
Msegua 
Pocomo 
Msambara 
Ukuafi 
Mobilian 

Dialect of St. Johanna 
Hottentot Languages, viz. 

Hottentot of the Cape, extinct 

* Namaqua, 430 
Koras 

Dammara of "Walvisch Bay 
Corana Hottentot 
Hottentot of Saldanha Bay 
Saab or Bushmen Dialect 

AFEICABYSSINIAN 
BEANCH. 
Agow Languages, viz. 

Agow 

Waag Agow 

Falasha 

Khamtinga 

Awnga 

Hwarasa 
Galla Languages, viz. 

* Galla or Ormo, 432 
Danakel 

Afar 

Adaiel 

Shiho 

Saho 

Toufte 

Somauli 
Gonga Languages, viz. 

Gonga 

Kaffa 

"Woratta 

"Wolaitsa 

Dawrooa 

Tamma 

Shay 

Nao 

Beja 
. Yangaro 

Sidama 
Shangalla or Shankala Lan- 
guages, viz. 

Shankala 

Dalla 

Takue, or Boje 

Barea 
Unplaced Languages of Abys- 
sinia. 
Gurinza 
Souro 



CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES. 



AFRIC-ABYSSINIAN 
BRANCH (continued). 
Dokko 
Yaraco 
Gamo 
Barea 



CLASS VII. 

AMEEI-AN 



ESQUIMAUX BRANCH. 

* Esquimaux, 438 

* Greenlandish, 441 
Kotzebue Sound Dialect 
Kadiao 

Tshuktchi 

ATHAPASCAN BRANCH. 
Chippeyan 
Tlatskani 

TAHKALI-UMKWA BRANCH 

(Allied to Athapascan). 
Tahkali or Carrier Indian 
Sikani 
Umkwa 

DISTINCT LANGUAGES spoken 
in the NORTH of NORTH 
AMERICA. 

Kenia, spoken in Cook's Inlet 

Ugaljachmutzi, spoken from 
long. 144° to 139° 

Newitte, north of Vancouver's 
Island 

Nootka or Wakash 

Koluche or Kaloclie 

Clallem 

Chickailish 

Sukwame 

Hailtsa 

Naas 

Koulischen 

Skittagets 

ALGONQUIN BRANCH. 

NORTHERN. 

*Cree, 448 
Montagnais 

* Ottawa, 453 

* Chippeway, 450 

* Ojibway, 453 

* Pottawattomie, 454 

* Mohawk, 456 
Missinsig 

Eastern. 
Thesliatapoosh 
Scoffie 

* Micmac, 454 
Etchemin 

*Abenaqui, 455 

Spoken along TnE Atlantic. 

* Massachusett, 444 

* Virginian, 444 
Narragansett 

* Mohegan, 444 
Montak 

* Delaware, 447 



ALGONQUIN BRANCH 

(continued). 
Nanticoke 
Susquehannok 
Powhattan 
Pampticoes 

"Western. 
Menomenies 
Miami 
Piankishaw 
Illinois 
Saukie 
Kickapoo 

* Shawanoe, 455 
Blackfeet Indian 
Shyenne 

IROQUOIS BRANCH. 

Onondago 

* Seneca, 458 
Oneida 
Cayuga 
Tuscarora 
Nottoway 
Wyandotte or Huron 

SIOUX or DACOTA BRANCH. 
Yankton 
Winebago 
Quappa 

* Dacota, 463 
Assiniboin 
Osage 
Kansa 

Minetares of Missouri 
Ottoe 

Omahaw 
Punca 

* Iowa, 404 
Upsaroka or Crow 

FLORIDIAN or APPALA- 
CHIAN BRANCH. 

Natchez, almost extinct 
Muskogee or Creek 
Lower Creek or Seminole 
•Chocktaw, 461 

* Cherokee, 459 
Catawba 
Uchee 

PANIS-ARRAPAHOES 
BRANCH. 

* Pawnee, 464 
Arrapahoe 
Paduca or Cumanche 

North Oregon Division. 
Coutanie or Kitunak 
Tsihaili-Selish Languages, 
viz. 

Sushwap or Atnah 

Selish 

Skitsuish 

Piskaw 

Skwale 

Cowelits or Kowelitz 

Tsiliailish orChikailish 

Nsietshawus or Killamuk 
Tsinuk or Chinook Languages, 
viz. 

Watlala or Upper Chinook 

Wahkyekum 



PANIS-ARRAPAHOES 
BRANCH (continued.) 
Eatlamat 
Chinook Proper 
Clatsop 
Killamuk 
Atnah or Sushwap 

Sooth Oregon Division. 
Sahaptin Languages, viz. 

Wallawalla 

Nez Percys or Sahaptin 
Proper 
Waiilatpu 
Cayeuse 
Molele 

Jakon or South Killamuk 
Saiustkla 
Totutune 
Lutuami 
Saste 
Kaus 
Watlla 

Shoshonee or Snake Indian 
Languages, viz. 

Utah 

Neteia 

"Wihinasht or West Sho- 
shonee 

Shoshonee Proper 

Panasht or Bonnak 

East Shoshonee 
Californian Languages, viz. 

Tuzhune 

Sekamne 

Pujuni 

Tsamak or Chamak 

Talatui 
Talatui Dialects, viz. 
Ochekamne 
Servushamne, etc. 

Shasty 

Palaik 

La Soledad Dialect 

San Miguel Dialect 

San Raphael Dialect 

San Diego Dialect 

San Barbara Dialect 

San Antonio Dialect 

San Luis Obispo Dialect 

Neteia 

Kiji 

Pima 

Eolen 

Raslen 

CARIB.TAMANAQUE 

BRANCH. 
*Karifor Carib, 473 

Tamanaque 

Guaraunos 

Chaymas 
* Arawack, 474 

Waraous 

DISTINCT LANGUAGES in 
CENTRAL AMERICA. 
Oyampus 

Guahiva or Guagivos 
Ottomak 
Manitivitanos 
Marepizanos 
Manaos 



DISTINCT LANGUAGES in 
CENTRAL AMERICA 
(continued). 
Saliva 
Macos 

Cavere-Maypure Languages, 
viz. 

Cavere 

Guaypunabis 

Maypure 

Moxos 
Goahiros 
Cocinas 
Cunacunas 
Maynas 
Changuenes 
Taucas or Xicaque 

* Mosquito, 469 
Payais 
Choi 
Lacandone 

MAYAN BRANCH. 

* Mayan, 468 
Mam or Pocoman 
Kachiguel 
Subtugil 

Sinca 
Chorti 
Chiapa, spolcen in Chiapa 

MEXICAN BRANCH. 

* Aztec or Mexican, 465 
Tolteca, extinct 
Popoloque 
Tlapanec 

* Mixteca, 467 

* Zapoteca, 467 

* Tarasca or Terasco, 467 
Tarahumera 

Taqui or J apis 

Moqui 

Apache 

Totonaque 

Dialect of Huasteca 

Matlatzincan 

* Otomi, 467 

PERUVIAN BRANCH. 

* Quichua or Peruvian, 470 
•Aimara, 471 

PAYAGUA-GUAYCURU 
BRANCH. 
Payagua 
Guaycuru 
Guanas 
Bororos 

GUARANI BRANCH. 

* Guarani Proper, 472 

* Brazilian or Tupi, 472 
Omogua 

West Guarani Dialects, viz. 
Chiriguanas 
Cirionos 
Guarayos 

CHILIAN BRANCH. 
Moluche or Araucanian 
Vuta-Huilliche 
Puelche, spolcen by the Pampas, 

south of Buenos Ayres. 
Tehuel, language o/Patanonla. 



6 SVC? 



